
Copyright^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



SCRIBNER'S 



Geographical Reader 
and Primer 



A SERIES OF JOURNEYS ROUND THE WORLD 

(based upon guyot's introduction) 



PRIMARY LESSONS 




NEW YORK 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 

743 AND 745 BROADWAY 
1882 



"3 



^ <x<\ 



Copyright, by 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 



jFrankltn "$xtss: 

RAND, AVERY, AND COMPANY, 
BOSTON. 



PREFACE. 



Guyot's Introduction has been pronounced by competent 
authorities to be the best of school reading-books. This 
judgment has led the publishers to present this work in a 
form more attractive and available for class-room uses. The 
occasion has been improved to thoroughly revise it, and by 
changes, additions, and omissions, to give it a completeness 
such as is indicated by its new name. 

The value of such a Reader is obvious. The material 
presented is interesting and useful as matter of knowledge ; 
its familiar and colloquial style awakens interest in the 
subject, creates easy and natural tones of expression, and 
leaves a lasting impress upon the mind. 

In order to complete its usefulness as a class-book, the 
leading geographical facts are gathered up and presented -in 
Part II. as a Primer of Lessons. This part is a brief out- 
line of geography for beginners ; noticing the location and 
commercial and political character of the countries, the nature 
of which has been given, with much of their life, in Part I. 
The form of these lessons, and their intimate connection with 
the readings, are such as to make mere repetition of words 
without thoughts altogether impossible. 

The Geographical Reader and Primer is believed to 
embody, both in the choice of material for its grade and in 
the mode of treatment, the best results of thought and expe- 
rience on the part of the most earnest and practical edu- 
cators. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION 1 

NORTH AMERICA. 
United States. 

The Atlantic Plain .' 4 

The Appalachian Mountains 14 

The Central Plain 20 

The Mississippi • . .23 

The Hudson 37 

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence 46 

Lake Champlain and Adirondack^ .... 56 

New England 59 

Rocky Mountain Country '63 

The Table-land 66 

California 70 

Northern Lands 75 

Southern Lands ........ 82 

SOUTH AMERICA. 

Amazon and Selvas 89 

Andes 97 

Plains of the Orinoco 102 

Plains of the La Plata 105 

ATLANTIC OCEAN 108 

EUROPE. 

British Isles 113 

Atlantic Coast Countries 122 

South-western Peninsulas 135 

Central and South-eastern Europe . . . .145 

Russia 158 

AFRICA 160 

ASIA 167 

AUSTRALIA . 180 

PACIFIC OCEAN 182 

CONCLUSION (Poem) 1S4 

iv 



CONTENTS. 



PART II. 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTORY LESSONS 187 

NORTH AMERICA. 
United States. 

General Lessons 207 

New England \ . .215 

Middle Atlantic States 220 

Cotton States (South Atlantic and Gulf) . . .224 

Central States 230 

Western Highlands (Pacific States) 235 

British America 240 

Mexico, Central America, and West Indies . . 241 

SOUTH AMERICA. 

Countries of the Plains 244 

Countries of the Andes 246 

EXAMINATION ON WESTERN HEMISPHERE . . 248 

EUROPE. 

The Continent . . . . 250 

British Isles 251 

France, Belgium, and Holland 254 

The North Countries 255 

Mediterranean Countries (Sunny Lands) . . . 257 

Switzerland and Germany 259 

Austrian Empire . 261 

Russia and Roumania 262 

AFRICA. 

Northern Africa 268 

Middle and Southern Africa 269 

ASIA. 

Northern and Western Asia 272 

The Indies 273 

Chinese and Japanese Empires 275 

AUSTRALIA 278 

EXAMINATION ON EASTERN HEMISPHERE . . . 280 

TABLES FOR REFERENCE 281 



LIST OF MAPS. 



— » ■ • — 

PAGES 

1. HEMISPHERES (double page) 194, 195 

2. UNITED STATES (double page) 212, 213 

3. NEW ENGLAND STATES 219 

4. MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES 225 

5. SOUTH ATLANTIC AND GULF STATES . . . .229 

6. CENTRAL STATES 235 

7. PACIFIC STATES 239 

8. NORTH AMERICA 243 

9. SOUTH AMERICA 249 

10. BRITISH ISLES 253 

11. CENTRAL EUROPE 263 

12. EUROPE 267 

13. AFRTCA 271 

14. ASIA 277 

vi 



Geographical Reader. 



WHAT WE LEARN IN GEOGRAPHY. 
Ge-og'-ra-phy. | de-scrip'-tion. | in'-ter-est-ing. 

1. When we want to learn all about a thing, so as 
to be sure of making no mistake, we like to see and 
examine it for ourselves. We are not content to know 
only what others can tell us, for we feel that our eyes 
are our surest teachers. 

2. That is the best way to learn many things about 
the Earth ; for we live upon it, and it is all around us, 
and before our eyes at all times. But the earth is so 
great, and most people travel so little, that they can 
see for themselves only a very small part of it, even 
if they use their eyes busily wherever they go. 

3. There are a thousand things that every one wants 
to know about his country, and about other parts of 
the world, which he must learn by reading books. But 
these books tell us only what is on the outside, or sur- 
face, of the earth; for that is all that interests most 
people. A book which tells about the surface of the 
earth, and the people and countries upon it, is called a 
Geography ; for geography means a description of the 
earth. 

4. When we look around us, we see that the earth 

l 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



has two kinds of surface. One is firm and solid; and 
we call it ground, or land. We walk or ride over it ; 
we build our houses upon it ; we see trees and grass 
growing out of it ; we sow seeds in it, and soon it is 
covered with young, growing plants. 

5. There is another part, which is not solid, but is 
always moving and flowing, and being stirred by the 




Land and Sea. 



wind. This is water. People do not often build houses 
to live in, upon the water ; but there is a sort of build- 
ing made on purpose to move about on it, and to carry 
persons from place to place where they may wish to go. 
These moving houses are boats and ships. People 
found out how to build them, and to make the water 
useful in this way, almost as soon as they learned to 
build houses on the land. 



WHAT WE LEAEN IN GEOGRAPHY. 3 



6. We see more land than water, and it would not be 
at all strange if we should think there was more of it 
on the earth. But geography teaches us that there is 
much more water than land. Nearly three-fourths of 
the earth's surface is water, and only about one-fourth 
is land. This is one of the things which we could not 
see for ourselves if we should travel over all parts of 
the earth, and use our eyes carefully everywhere. 

7. There are other things about the earth, which wise 
men found out only through many years of hard study. 
These, too, we must learn from books. One of these is 
the shape of the earth. People used, ages ago, to have 
queer ideas about this. They thought that the earth 
was flat, like a great plate ; that it was held up in some 
wonderful way, and that the sun and the stars all trav- 
elled around it. 

8. Now, the books teach us that the earth is a great 
ball; that it keeps all the time whirling round and 
round; and that, at the same time, it rolls on in a 
great journey around the sun, year after year, never 
stopping even for a single moment. 

9. The geographies teach us, too, about interesting 
countries in far-off parts of the world; about strange 
people, who look very unlike us ; and about strong and 
fierce animals and curious plants, which we have never 
seen, and which could not live at all in a country like 
ours. 

10. Thus children who would become wise must learn 
how to study books, as well as how to use their own 
eyes at all times, and to think about what they see. 
But, if we learn about the earth only what the eyes of 
travellers can teach them, we shall know a great deal 
of geography, — more than most people know. 



NORTH AMERICA. 



I. -IN THE ATLANTIC PLAIN, 
jour'-ney [jer'-ny]. | car'-riage [care'-rij], | veg'-e-ta-bles [vef-]. 

i. Now for the geography which our eyes can teach 
us. To get this, we will begin by making a long jour- 
ney in a carriage, using our eyes busily all the time as 
we go along. 

2. At first, for many hours, we drive through a fine 
country, with pretty white farmhouses, orchards, and 
fields of grain; with broad green meadows where the 
haymakers are busy, and pastures where are flocks of 
sheep, and herds of cows and horses, feeding on the 
fresh sweet grass. 

3. Little brooks ripple over the pebbles by the road- 
side, or wind, like silver threads, through the green 
grass of the pastures and meadows. Here and there 
are immense gardens, in which are raised great quanti- 
ties of strawberries, melons, peaches, and other deli- 
cious fruits, and all sorts of vegetables for the table. 

4. Now we drive through the pleasant, shady woods, 
where merry birds are singing, and many pretty flow- 
ers are blooming beneath the trees. We see squirrels 
hopping from branch to branch, or running as fast as 
their nimble feet can carry them, upon the fence by the 

4 



IN THE ATLANTIC PLAIN. 



roadside, and soon dodging out of sight into some heap 
of stones or brush. 

5. By and by we come to a little village with its church 
and schoolhouse, and its stores, where the farmers come 
to sell their eggs and butter, and buy their sugar and 
tea, and the other things which they need. 




In a Village. 

6. There is not much to be seen, only the mill-pond, 
which has "been made by building a dam across one of 
the brooks we have passed, and the mill beside it, to 
which the farmers bring their grain. A little way off, 
are the blacksmith 's shop and the post-office, where three 
or four farmers are standing, talking over the news 
while waiting for their grain to be ground, or for their 
horses to be shod by the blacksmith. 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



7. Toward night we see the land before us rising 
higher and higher, so that if one above should loosen 
a stone, it would roll all the way down to us. Our 
horses begin to go slowly, for it is hard drawing the 
carriage up this road. Do you know what it is to 
which we have come ? Of course you do. It is a 
hill, and we call it so because it is higher than the rest 
of the land. We first come to the foot of the hill ; 
then we go up the slope, and finally we are at the top, 
and we shall soon begin to go down the other side. , 



II. -UPON THE HILL-TOP. 

ho-ri'-zon. At-lan'-tic. o'-cean [shun]. 

pal-met'-to. A-mer'-i-ca. Pa-cif'-ic. 

l. Let us try what we can see from this hill-top. First 
look behind. There is the country through which we 
have been driving all the morning. There are many 
farms and farmhouses; many little villages scattered 
here and there, roads leading from one place to another 
in all directions, and railroads crossing the country in 
long, straight lines. There are also scattering groves 
that look very fresh and pleasant among the gardens 
and yellow grain-fields, and brooks that shine in the 
sunlight like silver. 

2. We can now see much more of the country than 
was in sight along the way as we were riding ; because 
it is below us, and we can look down upon the whole 
of it at once. Compared with these hills, it seems quite 
flat and level ; but there are many swells and hollows 



UPON THE HILL-TOP. 



all over it. Do you know what to call a broad, low 
land like this? It is a plain. 

3. You notice that the earth, at a distance from us as 
far as we can see, seems to be just against the sky. Do 
you suppose the sky comes down there and touches the 
earth ? No, it only seems to do so. Look all around, 




The Plain and Hills. 

and you will see that on every side it is the same. We 
seem to be in the middle of a circle, with the sky 
touching the ground on all sides of us ; just like a fly 
on a plate with a bowl turned over it. 

4. You must remember that this only seems so. If 
you should go where the sky now appears to touch the 
earth, you would find it to be just as high, and just as 
far off, as ever. Some time, when you are older, you 



8 GEOGRAPHICAL HEADER. 



will understand why this is so : now you can only re- 
member it. Try to remember, also, that the line where 
the earth and sky seem to meet, is called the horizon. 

5. That part of the horizon where you see the sun 
rise, is called east. Where it sets, is west. The sun at 
noon is in the south, and high in the sky. 

Now, if you stand with your right hand toward the 
east and your left toward the west, you will face the 
north, and the south will be behind you. If you re- 
member these points, you will always be able to know 
in what direction you are travelling, and can describe 
your journey so that other persons who may wish to do 
so, can follow your route. 

6. We came from the east. We are going toward the 
west. That plain which you see, stretches far away to 
the east, much beyond the place at which we starteo^. 
We are now near the western border of it. Away on 
the eastern border, is an immense body of water. It is 
called the Atlantic Ocean, and this plain is called the 
Atlantic Plain because it borders upon the Atlantic 
Ocean. The part of the plain over which we have 
travelled is named New Jersey. It is only a very small 
part of the Atlantic Plain. 

7. This great plain extends hundreds of miles to the 
north and the south, and is everywhere somewhat level ; 
but it has not, in all parts, the same kinds of trees and 
animals, nor the same pretty farmhouses, villages, and 
smooth roads. 

8. In some places, away to the south, you will find, 
for miles and miles, nothing but tall, dark pine-trees. 
There are no farms, no villages, but only the little 
cabins in which the people live who gather the turpen- 
tine from the pine-trees. 



IN THE LOW PLAIN. 9 



9. In other places, still farther south, there are, for 
many miles, only great swamps, where the black earth 
is so wet and soft that, should you step on it, your 
feet would sink, and you might never be able to get 
out. In these swamps are tall trees, with long moss 
trailing from the branches ; and many kinds of flowers, 
growing in the water like the beautiful white water- 
lily. There are, also, curious birds, with legs so long 




A Rice-Field. 



that they seem to be walking on stilts. These are given 
them so that they can wade in the water to find their 
food. 

10. In the parts which are not swampy, oranges and 
lemons grow ; and the palmetto, which is very different 
from any of the trees in the North. It is a kind of 
palm-tree, and can grow only in warm countries. There 
are, also, places where you will find large fields of rice. 
This grows only in the low lands near the sea, which 
are often overflowed. When seen growing, it looks 
much like a field of wheat or tall grass. 



10 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



11. Far to the south, there is no winter. Instead of 
skating and sleigh-rides on Christmas and New- Year's, 
people are working in their fields and gardens ; and a 
few days later the ground is green with growing plants, 
and the roses and other flowers are in bloom. How 
would you like to live in such a place ? 

12. This great, rich, and beautiful plain is only one 
small portion of our country. Do you know what the 
name of our whole great country is? It is the United 
States of America. It reaches north and south as 
many as fifteen hundred miles, through the very best 
part of a great land, called North America ; and it 
stretches east and west twenty-five hundred miles, from 
the borders of the Alantic Ocean to another great ocean, 
called the Pacific. 



III. -AMONG THE HILLS AND VALLEYS. 

Tren'-ton. | Del'-a-ware [-wur]. Phil-a-del -phi-a. 

Fair'-mount. J In-de-pend'-ence. j Schuyl'-kill [skool]. 

1. We have spent a long time on the hill-top, looking 
back toward the east, and studying the plain. Now 
we must go on with our journey. But the country 
through which we now pass, is quite unlike that which 
we left behind us. It is not so pleasant to be going up 
and down, up and down, for hours together. But that 
is what we must do here ; for there are many ridges to 
be crossed, and, almost as soon as we are over one, we 
find another to be climbed. 

2. As we go down the long slope of this first ridge, 
do you notice the green belt of land at the bottom, 



AMONG THE HILLS AND VALLEYS. 11 



before the slope begins to rise to the next ridge? 
How pretty it is ! And there, in the lowest part, is a 
lovely stream of water. These belts of lower land, 
between the higher grounds, are called valleys. If we 
were going along the valley, we could follow it for a 
long distance, by the side of its beautiful stream. 
Sometimes the hills on each side would be nearer, 
sometimes farther apart ; and everywhere we should 




The City of Trenton. 

see farms and villages, just as we saw them in the 
plain farther east, for the valley is just like the plain, 
except that it is narrower. 

3. We cross ridge after ridge, and valley after valley. 
Finally we descend a long, gentle slope ; and there, 
spread out under our eyes, is a valley, wider and more 
lovely, and a stream greater, than any of those we have 
passed. This stream is named the Delaware River ; for 
large streams are called rivers, and not brooks. 

4. Here is a fine village on the river-bank ; and at this 
place we will take the railroad, and follow the valley 



12 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



toward the sea. We see, on the banks of the stream, 
several large and busy villages, and some still larger 
and busier places, called cities. 

5. As the river goes on, it grows larger and larger ; 
for brooks and smaller rivers, one after another, flow 
into it. Thus larger and larger vessels can sail on it, 
and more and more kinds of business can be done in 
the places on its banks. So we do not wonder at all 
when we come to cities that are bigger and more full of 
business than any which we have before seen. 

6. Here is a city named Trenton. It is built just 
where the Delaware has become deep and wide enough 
for ships and steamboats to move about in its waters. 
We now change to another railroad. This carries us 
across the river, and on, south-westward, to a much 
greater city, built beside the Delaware, nearer the sea. 
This is Philadelphia, the largest city in our country 
excepting one; and that is New York. 

7. Here we see mile after mile of streets paved with 
pieces of stone to keep them firm and smooth. On 
each side of the streets, are walks which are thronged 
with people hurrying to and fro. In some of the 
streets, are lines of railroad. On the rails, are long 
cars drawn by horses, and filled with people who have 
too far to go, or are too much in haste, to walk. 

8. Beside the streets, are long rows of tall houses, 
standing so close together that they touch each other, 
and look like only one great building. There is no 
room for flower-gardens around the houses, such as we 
have seen in the villages and small cities. The houses, 
too, are so much alike, that, if it were not for their 
numbers, a person might easily mistake some other 
house for his own. 



AMONG THE HILLS AND VALLEYS. 13 



9. On other streets there are rows of great stores, 
where thousands of people are busy all day, buying and 
selling all sorts of goods ; and mills and factories, where 
other thousands are making nearly every kind of thing 
you could name. Railroads come into the city from 
almost every direction ; and there are different stations, 




Chestnut-street Bridge, Philadelphia. 

where the trains stop. At all these, are crowds of men 
moving cars, or handling goods which are to be carried 
away by the railroads, or storing those which the cars 
have brought. At the wharves along the river, are 
other men working about the vessels which have come 
in, or are going out, laden with goods. Here, too, are 
hundreds of churches and school-houses, hotels and 



14 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



markets, and other buildings for the use of the people. 
What a wonderful place a great city is ! 

10. But, where many people live in one place, there 
are always some bad and troublesome persons, who 
must be kept from doing harm. So the city has police- 
men to look after them. Besides these, there are the 
mayor and aldermen, and many other officers, whose 
duty it is to attend to the public business. All these 
officers together make up what is called the government 
of the city. 

11. There are many other things in Philadelphia which . 
you would like to see and learn about,, if there were 
time. There is the beautiful Fairmount Park, and there 
is an old building called " Independence Hall," in each 
of which something very interesting and important was 
done. Then there was a famous printer who lived here 
a hundred years ago. See what you can learn about 
these places, and about the famous old printer. 

12. The Schuylkill, a small river which joins the Dela- 
ware, flows through Philadelphia. A number of fine 
bridges cross it, uniting the parts of the city which it 
separates. The Chesnut-street bridge is one of them. 



IV. -AMONG THE MOUNTAINS AND MINES. 

gor'-ges [-jez]. I Sus-que-han'-na [-nah]. I Har'-ris-burg. 

Penn-syl-va'-ni-a. | Ap-pa-la'-chi-an. | ma-chine' [sheen']. 

l. Now that we are ready to leave Philadelphia, we 
can take a train in the western part of the city, which 
will carry us westward as fast as we wish to go. 



AMONG THE MOUNTAINS AND MINES. 15 



2. At first the road leads through a most beautiful 
country ; and the pretty houses, and bright flowers, and 
smooth green fields, and lovely groves, seem like some 
pleasant park, rather than like the borders of a great 
city. By and by we find our way lying through rough 
hills. The road winds among them, finding break after 
break in the ridges, through which we cross from one 
valley to another. 

3. At length we enter a broad valley, on each side of 
which is a great wall of very high land. Along the tops 
of these walls are notches, so that some parts are much 
lower than others ; but even the lowest parts are much 
higher than any hill which we have yet seen. What can 
be the name of such land as this? You have heard of 
mountains perhaps. Each of these great solid walls 
of high land is a mountain-range. The high parts are 
called mountains, or peaks ; the low notches, passes, that 
is, crossing-places. 

4. The mountains are much steeper, as well as higher, 
than the hills. They are also covered with great for- 
ests. Wherever we look, we see only trees from the 
bottom to the top. What can be the reason the moun- 
tains are covered with forests, while on the plain and 
hills, and in the valleys, there is only here and there a 
little grove? There were once forests all over those 
regions, as well as upon the mountains; but they 
have been cut down to make room for the farms that 
now cover the land. We will try, by and by, to learn 
why the forests have been left upon the mountains. 

5. After a time we find a fine river, named the Sus- 
quehanna, flowing directly across the valley. It makes 
its way to the sea through breaks in the mountain- 



16 GEOGRAPHICAL HEADER. 



ranges, such as we saw in the hills from the cars. 
These are often just wide enough for the river to pass, 
and some are very grand. Such breaks are usually 
called gorges, but in these mountains they are also 
called water-gaps. 

6. On the Susquehanna, is the city of Harrisburg. If 
we go about, to learn what the people afe doing, we 




On the Susquehanna River, above Harrisburg. 

shall find, in all parts of it, great furnaces, where hun- 
dreds of men are at work, melting something that looks 
like black stone. Should you lift it, you would find it 
much heavier than stone. It is called iron ore, and is 
very abundant in the mountains and hills which we saw 
on our way here. 

7. Iron is obtained from the ore by melting it in a 



AMONG THE MOUNTAINS AND MINES. 17 



furnace heated by coal. The coal used in the furnaces 
is also found in the mountains of Pennsylvania. It is 
a great benefit to Harrisburg to be near the coal and 
iron mines, and on that account many people come here 
to live. The city contains large iron-works, in which 
hundreds of men are constantly employed. 

8. We now leave Harrisburg, and continue our way 
westward, across the valley. We soon reach the moun- 
tains, and can see of what they are made. They are 
not of soft earth, like the plain and the valley ; nor of 
earth and rock mingled, like the hills : but they are 
made up of masses of rock, some lying one way and 
some another, with only a little soil upon and between 
them. 

9. We called the mountain-range a wall when we saw 
it at a distance. You see it is a solid stone wall. The 
rocks do not all look alike. Some are one great shape- 
less mass of solid stone ; and some are made up of layers, 
like very thick slates joined together. In some of these 
masses the layers are mostly level, like a floor ; in 
others they are inclined, as if leaning one on another ; 
and in still others they stand nearly erect, like the 
walls of a house. 

10. What could have lifted them, and tossed them 
about in this way? You would not now understand if 
one should tell you. But you must try to remember 
how these rocks appear, and when you are older you 
will learn how they came to look as they now do. We 
wondered why the forests were left growing upon the 
mountains. It is because the mountains are so very 
rough and rocky that we could not well have farms and 
gardens upon them. 



18 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



11. Now we have crossed the mountain-range, and have 
entered another narrow valley, beyond which is another 
range, with its rounded peaks covered with forests. 
This, too, we cross; and, as we go on westward, we 
find other valleys and other ranges of the same kind, 
side by side, like great folds or wrinkles in the surface 
of the earth. 

12. Now we reach the highest range of all. This we 
cannot cross through any gorge or valley ; but we must 
climb the slope, and go over it. The road winds about, 
back and forth, up and up ; and, when we are near the 
top, our train dashes into a tunnel cut through the solid 
rock, and comes out at the other end, ready to descend 
the long westward slope. 

is. These ranges extend far to the south, and far to 
the north, almost to the borders of our country. If we 
should travel throughout their entire length we should 
find them everywhere very much alike, with their 
rounded summits and their covering of forests, and with 
long, narrow, and rich valleys between them. All of 
these ranges together are called a mountain-system. 
This is the Appalachian mountain-system. We shall 
find other mountains, very different from these. Try to 
remember how these appear. 

14. The mountains and hills of Pennsylvania contain 
immense beds of coal. They lie in separate, and some- 
times very thick, sheets, with layers of rock above and 
between them. In some places they are deep in the 
earth ; but in others they reach the surface, and their 
black edges can be seen between the beds of rock, in the 
mountain-side or river-banks. Places in which coal is 
taken out from under the ground are called coal-mines. 



AMONG THE MOUNTAINS AND MINES. 19 



15. When coal is found near the surface, it may very 
easily be taken out from between the layers of rock ; 
but, when it lies deep, a hole, like a well, is dug down 
to it. This entrance is called a shaft. Now a machine 
for drawing up the coal is placed at the top of the shaft, 
and then the mine is ready for the workmen. They 
break the coal from the beds in large masses, which 
are drawn up the shaft, and afterwards crushed by 
machinery. 

16. Beyond the last range of mountains, is the large 
city of Pittsburg. It is built where two small rivers 
unite, and form a greater one, named the Ohio. Pitts- 
burg contains many great mills and forges, for working 
iron. The sound' of the heavy machinery is never 
stilled, and black clouds of smoke from the tall chim- 
neys constantly fill the air. 

17. Before we reach Pittsburg, we notice that the 
mountains gradually become lower and lower. Beyond 
it the country is made "up of low ridges of hills, and 
wide, green valleys. It is very beautiful, with its pleas- 
ant groves and bright streams, among which are grain- 
fields and meadows, and pastures covered with horses, 
cattle, and sheep. In the country north of Pittsburg, 
are singular wells, from which mineral oil is pumped 
instead of water. Kerosene is made from it. 




20 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



V.— IN THE ROLLING PLAINS. 

de-li'-cious [-lish'-us]. I un'-du-la-ting. | Cin-cin-na'-ti. 

trans-por-ta'-tion. to-bac'-co. | [Sin-sin-nah'-ti]. 

i. The State which lies next west of Pennsylvania, is 
Ohio. It is a part of a great plain which lies on the 
west side of the Appalachian Mountains, but is very 
different from the Atlantic Plain. It is made up of 
low, round hills, not much higher than the rest of the 
land, with long, gentle slopes, and wide valleys between 
them. A surface of this kind, is called a rolling, or 
undulating plain. 

2. This plain reaches westward for hundreds of miles, 
all through the middle part of the United States, stretch- 
ing as far as the Rocky Mountains. For this reason, it 
has been named the Great Central Plain. But the differ- 
ent parts of it are very unlike. Most of the country is 
a rolling surface, like Ohio ; but many parts are as level 
as the flattest portions of the Atlantic Plain. 

3. These flat lands lie along the borders of rivers and 
great lakes, and were formed in some way by them, as 
the flat lands of the Atlantic Plain were made by the 
rivers and the ocean working together. When you are 
older, you can learn just how this was done ; but now 
you could not understand it if you were told. Perhaps 
you can find out where some other flat plains lie, on the 
border of a distant ocean, where people find in the 
ground some very interesting things. Learn all you can 
about them. 

4. As the country is unlike in different parts of the 



IN THE ROLLING PLAINS. 



21 



Central Plain, so the kinds of work done, and the things 
which you will see groAving, are very unlike. In some 
parts of it, are immense fields of wheat and corn, stretch- 
ing, on every side, as far as the eye can reach. In other 
places, are pastures, where thousands of horses, sheep, 
cattle, and hogs, are feeding; and in still another 
part, the hillsides and valleys are planted with grape- 




A Country View in Ohio. 

vines, from which the most delicious, juicy grapes are 
gathered. Some of these are put up carefully in little 
boxes, and sent to parts of the country where grapes 
do not grow so well; but most of them are used to 
make wine. 

5. In some places, there are immense fields of flax, 
hemi?, and tobacco. The flax is very beautiful. Were 
you to see a broad field of it, with the slender stalks, 



22 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



tipped with blue flowers, waving in the wind, you would 
almost think you were looking at a blue lake. 

6. On the southern border of Ohio, in the midst of 
the grape region, is the great city of Cincinnati. It is 
built beside the beautiful Ohio River, and is one of the 

busiest cities of the 
United States. All 
summer long, boats 
are constantly com- 
ing and going, bear- 
ing goods to and 
from the city; 

7. Can you think 
what the people of 
Cincinnati have to 
send away in such 
quantities ? They 
have the wines from 
the grape-country 
about them ; but, 
what is more im- 
portant, they have, 
from the fine pas- 
tures all over the 
State, hundreds 
and thousands of 
barrels of beef and 
pork, and great sacks of wool, and quantities of fine 
butter and cheese. 

8. Besides these things, they have also the wheat and 
corn from the grain-fields. Thus they easily find loads 
for all the boats they wish to employ. But the river 




On the Ohio River. 



ABOUT THE SPRINGS AND BROOKS. 23 



is not the only means of transportation, for railroads 
enter the city from all directions. 

9. All over the greater part of this plain, as well as on 
the Atlantic Plain, are many pretty villages and great 
cities, with multitudes of busy people. Some are work- 
ing in mines, some are making all sorts of useful or 
beautiful articles, and some are buying and selling 
goods. All are very active at one thing or another. 



VI. -ABOUT THE SPRINGS AND BROOKS. 

Mis-sis-sip'-pi. | I-tas'-ca [-call]. | is'-land [i'-land]. 

1. The surface of the Great Central Plain is every- 
where cut by green valleys, with clear, bright streams 
flowing through them, just as in the valleys among the 
mountains. Let us talk a little about these streams. 
We would like to learn whence they come, and whither 
they are going. 

2. Do you remember ever seeing, on the sides of hills 
or mountains, places where the water comes from among 
the rocks, in little streams cool and clear ? We call such 
places springs, you know. There are very many of them 
in all the hills and mountains that we have passed ; and 
from every one, flows a little brook of clear, cool water. 
These brooks that flow through the little valleys, by 
and by flow together into one greater valley ; and thus 
they form the rivers. 

3. The Ohio River, on which Cincinnati is built, is 
formed by many smaller rivers, which are made by many 
little brooks flowing from the springs in the Appalachian 



24 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



Mountains. But the hills and mountains are earth and 
rock, not water. Where, then, can the water of the 
springs come from? Perhaps we shall learn that by 
and by. See if you can find it out. 

4. Away in a forest of pine-woods, almost on the 
northern border of our country, is a great number of 
springs. The hills from which these springs issue, are 
not high, steep, and rocky, like those near the Appala- 
chian Mountains ; but they are low and rounded, and 
made of sand and clay. Little streams flow from the 
springs in these hills, into a hollow, where they make 
a very small pond. 

5. This pond is the place where the great Missis- 
sippi River begins its journe}^ to the ocean. From it 
flows a little brook, so small, one could easily leap across 
it. You would hardly believe that this tiny stream 
would become, on its way to the ocean, a great river, 
large enough to carry heavy steamboats for thousands 
of miles. 

6. Now, it cannot bear even a little boat, as it dances 
along over its gravelly bed, under the shadow of the 
pine-woods. The banks on each side of the stream are 
covered with a soft carpet of bright green moss ; and 
pretty wild flowers bend over the water. Many fallen 
trees lie across the brook ; and low shrubs and bushes 
hang over it, so that, in some places, it is almost hidden 
by them. 

7. After this brook has gone a distance of six miles, 
it finds another small, basin-shaped hollow, into which it 
flows. Four other little streams flow into the same 
basin ; and their waters spread out and fill it, forming 
a beautiful lake. This is Itasca Lake. It is usually 



ABOUT THE SPBINGS AND BROOKS. 



25 



called the source, or beginning, of the Mississippi ; but 
the real source is the tiny pond that is formed by the 
springs among the pines. 

8. Some parts of the shore are low, almost even with 
the water ; but in other places hills rise from the edge 
of the lake. The low shore is covered with bushes, 
grass, and flowers, 
and the hills, with 
tall pine-trees. In 
the middle of the 
lake, is a small 
piece of land, also 
covered with tall 
trees. That is an 
island. You have 
perhaps seen is- 
lands in little 
streams in the 
woods and mead- 
ows. 

9. If we were to 
come here in win- 
ter, we should find 
this place looking 
very different. The pretty lake, and all the streams 
flowing into it, would be covered with thick ice. The 
grass and low bushes would be buried out of sight, the 
flowers dead, and the pine-trees wrapped in hoods and 
mantles of snow. Thus they sleep all through the long 
winter of four or five months, until the return of spring 
awakens them to new life. 




>3&m - 

Itasca Lake 




26 GEOGRAPHICAL HEADER. 



VII. -ON THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI. 

ca-noe' [-noo']. i trib'-u-ta-ries. | St. An'-tho-ny. 

prec'-i-pice [pres'-]. I Min-ne-ap'-o-lis. I [Saint An'-to-ni.] 

i. In order to learn something more about brooks 
and rivers, let us take a journey down the Upper Mis- 
sissippi, starting from Itasca Lake. But what shall we 
travel in ? The river at first is not big enough to carry 
even the smallest kind of a steamboat or sailing-vessel : 
so we must get a little boat called a canoe, which is 
moved by paddles. We shall easily find somebody to 
paddle us down the river. 

2. Mile after mile we glide along, through the wild 
forest and the bright, sunny openings. We pass the 
mouth of many a smaller brook which pours its clear 
waters into the Mississippi, and so it grows larger and 
larger as we go on. These streams, which bring their 
waters to it, are called tributaries of the river. 

3. We have now come to a place where great rocks 
lie in the middle of the stream, and the water foams 
and dashes through the narrow passages between them, 
so that we expect every moment to be driven against 
them, and have our boat broken in pieces. The cur- 
rent is so swift, that, in some places, the men cannot 
keep the boat off from the rocks with the paddles, but 
must wade in the stream to guide it through the narrow 
channels. 

4. The bottom, or bed, of the river is very sloping ; 
and that is the reason the water moves over it so rapidly, 
just as your sled goes more swiftly down a steep hill 



ON THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI. 27 



than on a more gentle slope. The boatmen call this 
place the Rapids. Can you think why it is called so ? 

5. By and by we have passed the Rapids, and the river 
is broad and gentle ; and, here and there, it spreads out 
into beautiful lakes, with green islands in them. Their 
shores of white sand glisten like snow in the sunshine ; 
and trees of elm and maple, with bright green leaves 
and slender branches waving in the wind, make pretty 
groves upon their borders. 

6. After we have gone on for many, many miles, we 
reach a place where the river is quite narrow, and the 
banks are somewhat steep. The boatmen tell us we 
must walk for a short distance ; and, after we have 
left the canoe, they draw it up to the bank, and take it 
on their heads to carry it. I wonder what that is for. 
Perhaps, on our walk, we shall learn the reason of it. 

7. We climb up the bank, and find a nice path 
through the forest. Do you hear that great roaring 
noise coming from the river ? Let us go closer, and see 
if we can find what makes it. The banks here are very 
steep ; and we must cling to the branches of the trees, 
or we shall fall over. 

8. Now look back, up the river. There is a place 
where the river's bed drops down suddenly, becoming 
much lower than before ; and you see the waters come 
leaping and dashing down this long step, making a great 
foam and noise, just as you have seen them sometimes 
leap over a mill-dam. 

9. This is called a ivaterfall, or cataract; and the steep 
descent in the bed of the river is a precipice. You 
may have seen little falls in the brooks, among the 
meadows and woods : they are called cascades. Now 



28 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



can you tell me why we have been obliged to walk ? and 
why the boatmen took their boat out of the water, and 
carried it, instead of letting it carry them and us ? The 
boat could not have come down the falls without being 
dashed in pieces, and we should all have been drowned. 




A Cascade. 

10. As we go on from this place, we find many rapids 
and falls hindering our way ; and we pass among lovely 
islands in the bed of the stream, which has now deep- 
ened, and spread out into a large river. The country 
through which it flows, is no longer covered with for- 
ests; but farms, villages, and small cities take their 
place, just as on the rivers in the Atlantic Plain. 

11. By and by, after many and many a day, we find a 



FROM ST. PAUL TO ST. LOUIS. 29 



busy, bustling city on both sides of the river, across 
which a number of bridges have been built. One of 
these is a suspension-bridge, supported by great ropes 
of twisted wire, hung on tall piers. It makes a way for 
street-cars, as well as for people and carriages, to cross 
the stream. 

12. This is the city of Minneapolis ; and here are St. 
Anthony's Falls, the last which the river makes in 
its course toward the sea. The people who first came 
here, saw what a fine place this would be to build mills ; 
for the water could be made to turn a vast number 
of mill-wheels. And now the banks are crowded with 
mills, and the water filled up with logs, and the falls 
hidden by timbers, so that one can hardly see any of 
the original view. Here our canoe-trip must end, — 
hundreds of miles from its beginning. 

13. Only ten miles farther down the river, is another 
fine city named St. Paul, to which we will go in a car- 
riage. From St. Paul, the whole voyage to the sea can 
be made by steamboat. 



VIII. -PROM ST. PAUL TO ST. LOUIS. 

prai'-rie [pray'-re]. | dan'-ger-ous [-jer-us]. | Mis-sou'-ri [-?•*]. 

i. From the little lake which makes the cradle of the 
Mississippi, all the way to Minneapolis, groves of trees 
are everywhere in sight ; and, once, nearly that whole 
country was covered with forests. Southward from this 
place, even before the white men came to cut down the 
trees, there were great treeless spaces, covered with rich 
grass and bright flowers. 



30 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



2. When the first white man saw these grassy plains 
along the Mississippi, he called them prairies ; which in 
his language, was the name for meadows. They were 
everywhere so smooth and green, and the low, round 
hills here and there, with their clusters of trees, looked 
so much like orchards, that it seemed almost as if 
people had lived here a great while ago, and planted 
these trees, and levelled these beautiful prairies. 




A Prairie Farm. 



3. One might have travelled many miles, east and 
west and south, and found them everywhere the same. 
Many beautiful birds hid in the grass, or went hopping 
about after the seeds and the insects on which they 
fed. There were also great droves of buffaloes, that 
fed upon the prairie-grass ; and curious little animals, 
called prairie-dogs, made their burrows together, like 
the houses of a village. 

4. Sometimes in the summer, when the grass was very 



FBOM ST. PAUL TO ST. LOUIS. 31 



dry, a little spark from a hunter's gun or pipe would 
set it on fire. Then the flame rushed over miles and 
miles of land, burning every blade of grass, and every 
tree and shrub ; and even the animals could not always 
get out of the way of the fire, which went as fast as the 
wind. The burning prairie looks very grand ; but when 
the flame is gone, and only the bare black earth is left, 
it is very dreary. 

5. The prairie country, in winter, was sometimes one 
vast sheet of snow, with only here and there a house 
dotting it, and not a tree nor a fence to mark one place 
from another. It was very dangerous then for people 
to try to cross the prairies ; for as the roads were cov- 
ered with snow, and there was nothing to mark their 
place, travellers sometimes got lost, and were frozen to 
death. 

6. Now all this is changed ; and along the Mississippi 
and far westward, where once the wild prairies bloomed, 
there are busy cities, and pretty villages, and great 
farms with immense fields of wheat and corn, stretch- 
ing as far as the eye can reach. Throughout the prairie 
country, the gently-sloping banks of the Mississippi are 
interrupted by steep walls, that rise on each side far 
above the water, as though a pathway had been cut for 
it, deep below the surface of the plain. These high steep 
slopes are called bluffs. 

7. The bluffs do not rise close along both banks of the 
river. They are separated by a broad band of land, so 
low and flat as to be always overflowed when the water 
is a little higher than usual. This is called bottom-land. 
Some parts of it are great marshes, covered with tall 
grass, or with thickets of cane that look something like 



32 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



fields of corn, though the cane is much higher than 
the tallest corn. Other parts are covered with dense 
forests. 

8. The river has now become very large ; and, though 
there are no waterfalls nor any rapids, it still flows quite 
swiftly. Its course, too, is very winding. In some 
places, it glides in curves through the middle of the 
bottom-lands : in others, its path is directly under the 
foot of the bluffs, which it is all the time washing and 
wearing away, carrying down to the sea the earth and 
rocks that fall from them. 

9. Great trees, too, have the earth thus washed away 
from them, and are carried downward by the waters. 
Sometimes their roots become fastened to the bottom of 
the river, while their sharp tops, pointed down stream, 
reach nearly or quite to the surface. These are called 
snags, and are very dangerous ; for steamers going up 
stream may easily run against them and be wrecked. 

io. When we have gone about half the length of the 
Mississippi, and have passed many rivers flowing into 
it from both east and west, we reach the mouth of the 
Missouri, its largest tributary. This stream is much 
wider than that part of the Mississippi above it, and 
twice as long. Missouri means mud river; and as 
the broad mass of muddy water comes pouring into the 
bright, clear Mississippi, we do not at all wonder at 
the name. 




ON THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI. 33 



IX. -ON THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI. 

St.Lou'-is[Saint Loo'-is]. I plan-ta'-tions. al'-li-ga-tors. 

rep'-tiles [-tilz\. I New Or'-le-ans. lev'-ee [lev'-y]. 

i. Below the mouth of the Missouri, is St. Louis, the 
largest city upon the banks of the Mississippi. It is 
also one of the largest and best located places in the 
United States. Its position on the Mississippi enables 
it to send boats from its wharves, not only to every city 
and village along this river, but also to those on the 
Missouri. 

2. But this is not all. Not far below St. Louis, is 
the mouth of the Ohio, which is also a tributary of the 
Mississippi. By this stream, boats can be sent to Cin- 
cinnati and Pittsburg, and other places on its banks. 
Thus, by these three great rivers, and the smaller ones 
flowing into them, St. Louis can easily trade with every 
part of the rich plain through which they flow. Be- 
sides, like Cincinnati, railroads lead from this city in all 
directions. A great suspension-bridge, with a railroad- 
track as well as a carriage-way, crosses the Mississippi 
here. 

3. Below the mouth of the Ohio, the rich country 
through which the Mississippi flows, begins to be cov- 
ered with fields of cotton, instead of wheat and corn. 
In the spring, the young plant may be seen starting up 
from the seeds, in long lines across the fields. It grows 
rapidly, and puts forth branches like a little tree ; and 
in summer it is covered with pretty pale-yellow flow- 
ers. Toward autumn, instead of flowers, you see a 



34 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



round fruit, looking something like a walnut covered 
with its outside coat. When this fruit is ripe, it opens ; 
and the long fibres of cotton, in which the seeds are 
wrapped, cover the plants like balls of snow. 




Cotton-Picking. 

4. Now you may see hundreds of negro men and 
women, working in the fields, picking the cotton care- 
fully from the pod with their fingers. This is very slow 
work ; and, as the cotton-balls are not all ripe at the same 
time, it lasts a long while. After the cotton is picked, 
it must be dried, and the seeds all taken out. Finally 
it is packed in great bundles, or bales, and is ready to 
be sent to the cotton-mills, to be made into cloth. 



ON THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI. 35 



5. The country on each side of the Lower Mississippi, 
for hundreds of miles from its mouth, is very low and 
flat. It is one great plain of black earth and sand, in 
which not even a single stone can be seen. The parts 
near the river are a little higher than the rest ; and 
they are covered with great plantations of sugar- 
cane, looking like fields of corn. Beyond these, are 
immense marshes covered with canebrakes and tall 
trees. 

6. Every year, in the spring and summer, the streams 
overflow their banks ; and these marshes become lakes, 
in which only the tops of the trees can be seen. Often 
villages would be washed away, plantations covered, 
and every thing destroyed, were it not for walls, called 
levees, which are built on the banks of the river to 
make them higher, and prevent overflowing. Some- 
times these levees are broken, and the lands behind 
them are covered with water, and many people are 
drowned. 

7. This is a warm country, like the southern part of 
the Atlantic Plain. The marshes and streams are 
thronged with alligators, snakes, turtles, and other 
reptiles ; and the air swarms with troublesome insects. 

8. In this low country, near the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi, with the sugar-plantations all about it, is the great 
city of New Orleans. Here the planters bring their 
hogsheads of sugar and molasses, which are put upon 
steamboats or sailing-vessels, and sent to parts of the 
country where sugar-cane cannot grow. Boats come 
here, too, loaded with cotton from the plantations far- 
ther up the river. This is put in strong ships, and sent 
to other parts of our own country, or across the ocean 



36 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



to distant countries, where it is made into all kinds 
of cotton cloth. Thus you see that this, too, is a very 
active city. It is also a curious old town. You will 
like to learn more about it when older. 

9. We have now travelled all the way from the 
source of the Mississippi to its mouth, about one hun- 
dred miles below New Orleans. This river is so very 




On the Levee at New Orleans. 



long, that should we start from its source in the spring, 
just after the snow is gone, and travel twenty miles 
every day, it would be nearly fall before we should 
arrive at its mouth. There are only one or two rivers 
in the whole world longer than the Mississippi. The 
part of the sea into which it flows, borders upon the 
south side of the United States, and is called the Gulf 
of Mexico. 



AT THE MOUTH OF THE HUDSON. 37 



10. Ships from other countries cross the Atlantic 
Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and go up the Missis- 
sippi to New Orleans. There they unload their cargoes. 
Some of the goods are used in the city ; and some are 
put on steamboats, and sent up the river to other places. 
These steamboats return to New Orleans, loaded with 
lumber, wheat, corn, tobacco, cotton, and other things, 
which are to be carried by ships to countries across the 
ocean. 

11. Thus, you see, the rivers help to make a pathway, 
not only beween different parts of our country, but 
also to other countries away beyond the ocean. This 
it is which makes large rivers so important. 



X.-AT THE MOUTH OF THE HUDSON. 
Hud'-son. | In'-dian [ind'-yan]. | Anch'-or [ank'-er]. 

i. There is, in the northern part of the United 
States, another river, which, though it is only about half 
as long as the part of the Mississippi above St. Anthony's 
Falls, yet is nearly as important as the Mississippi itself. 
It is the Hudson. It flows through the eastern part 
of the State of New York, from north to south. At its 
mouth, on a large island, is New York, the largest 
city in America. 

2. Boats come down the Hudson to New York, bring- 
ing loads of wheat and corn from the great grain-fields 
on the prairies ; loads of lumber from the forests near 
the sources of the Mississippi ; and many other things 
which come from the west by the great lakes on the 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



northern border of the United States. By the same 
pathway, the silks, coffee and tea, and other things 
that are brought to New York in ships, from countries 
across the ocean, are sent to the cities in the northern 
and middle part of our country. The Hudson is there- 
fore much more important than most other rivers, ex- 
cepting the Mississippi. 




New-York Harbor. 



3. New York, though it is the largest city in Ameri- 
ca, is not nearly so large, nor so old, as several cities in 
other countries. The first houses were built there not 
quite three hundred years ago, by some Dutch people 
who came from a country on the other side of the At- 
lantic Ocean. 



AT THE MOUTH OF THE HUB SOX. 39 



4. Then the great plain east of the Appalachian Moun- 
tains, which is now covered with farms, pretty villages, 
and fine cities, was everywhere one unbroken forest. In 
the shade of these forests, lived many beautiful birds 
and some large and strong ones, like the eagle. There 
were many fierce wild animals, — bears, wolves, and 
panthers ; and there were many harmless ones, like the 
deer. 

5. The Indians, also, lived in these forests. Their 
huts were the only houses the Dutch strangers found ; 
and their bark canoes, the only boats on the Hudson. 
The Indians did not like to have the white people 
come to live in their country ; because they cut down 
the forests, built houses, and ploughed and planted 
the fields, and thus frightened away the wild animals. 
They, therefore, burned the houses of the Dutch, and 
killed many people. In this way they tried to drive 
tftiem away, or to prevent their making themselves com- 
fortable, and increasing in numbers. 

6. But they did not succeed. More Dutch people 
came every year ; and, by and by, English people came 
also. The little village grew into a great town ; the 
town increased in size as the years passed, and at length 
became a cit} r . Fine, large buildings were put up ; new 
streets, broad and straight, were opened; and pretty 
parks were laid out : and thus, after many years, New 
York, which began with a dozen or two little log houses, 
has become the great city it now is. 

7. In the broad mouth of the river, beside the city, 
are hundreds and hundreds of ships from all parts of the 
world. Some are moved by the wind blowing against 
sails ; others are great steamers, much larger and stronger 



40 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



than those on the Mississippi. Some are used to carry 
goods and travellers from one place to another ; others 
are war-ships, carrying soldiers, and great, heavy, ter- 
rible cannons. 

8. Here, also, are large steamboats which run only 
upon the Hudson. Some of these Hudson steamers are 
very elegant, and move over the water with great speed. 
We shall presently get into one of them, and make a 
journey up the river. 

9. Many vessels lie quietly on the water, held in 
place by a strong, heavy anchor, which is fastened to 
the ship by a great rope, called a cable. When the 
master of the ship wishes to remain in the same place 
for some time, he has the anchor thrown into the water ; 
and it sinks to the bottom, fastens itself to the earth 
by its strong hooks, and holds the ship securely. This 
place in which the ships are lying at anchor, is called 
the harbor. 

10. There are islands, near the mouth of the river, 
that keep the great waves of the sea from rolling into 
the harbor ; and the high lands, on each side of it, pre- 
vent the winds from blowing very hard upon the ships. 
Thus, they are in no danger of being dashed about and 
broken "in pieces, as they might be in the ocean. New- 
York Harbor is one of the largest and safest in the 
world. 



UP TEE HUDSON. 41 



XL -UP THE HUDSON. 

per-pen-dic'-u-lar. aq'-ue-duct[«A;'-7i>e-]. I Al'-ba-ny [Awl'-]. 

Pal-i-sades'. j car'goes. I Ad-i-ron'-dacks. 

i. At nine o'clock on a beautiful spring morning, we 
make our way to the place where the Hudson-river 
steamers are to be found, and go on board one of them. 
The sunlight falls on the sails that skim the harbor, 
and makes them white as snow ; and the tall domes 
and spires of the city glitter like silver. 

2. We pass miles of wharves lined with vessels which 
are receiving or discharging their cargoes, and of 
streets, some bordered with low, dirty-looking shops, 
some with tall, handsome buildings. Here and there, 
are large factories with dull brick walls and smoking 
chimneys. Now we begin to know what a great city 
New York is. At length the shops and wharves and 
straight, paved streets, are all passed, and we are steam- 
ing along through the country. 

3. On the east bank of the river, are beautiful country- 
houses, surrounded by trees, with pretty walks winding 
down the green slope to the water's edge. There are 
dark evergreens with their tall, stiff figures, and grace- 
ful elms and maples, with their delicate green leaves 
dancing in the morning wind. There are other trees, 
covered with snow-white flowers, with scarcely a leaf 
to be seen. The ground is smooth, and the grass thick 
and green, showing that somebody has taken care of 
these lands, and spent much time and money to make 
them beautiful. 



42 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



4. The west side looks very different. There rises, 
near the river's edge, a great perpendicular wall of 
naked rock, reaching very much higher than the tallest 
tree. It begins opposite the upper part of New York, 
and extends several miles up the river. 

5. This wall is called the Palisades. That sloping 

bank seen at its 
_^, : . foot, is made of 

pieces of rock that 
are constantly fall- 
ing from above. 
Here and there, at 
the foot of the slope, 
is a little cottage or 
other small build- 
ing ; but there are 
none of those fine 
houses and parks 
that make the other 
bank so beautiful. 

6. Just above the 
Palisades, the river 
spreads out into a 
broad sheet, like a 
lake. This is called 
Tappan Bay. The 
banks are high, and covered with handsome houses and 
parks, like those already seen ; and here and there, are 
pretty little villages almost hidden by trees. Beyond 
the villages, are fine farms, with orchards covered with 
their fragrant pink and white blossoms. Ploughmen and 
sowers are working in the fields; and flocks of sheep 




Palisades of the Hudson. 



UP THE HUDSON. 43 



and lambs, and herds of cows, are feeding upon the hill- 
sides. 

7. At the upper end of Tappan Bay, the Croton, a 
little river of bright, pure water, flows into the Hud- 
son. It comes from small lakes away among the hills 
east of the Hudson. From the Croton, water is car- 
ried, in a great tube called an aqueduct, all the way to 
the city of New York, and is sent through pipes into 
the houses and other buildings; for, in a great city 

as in the country. jfi - , 

sides, great mountains ^^■i^^' 

COme down tO the Water's Highlands of the Hudson. 

edge, with their steep, rocky slopes covered with forests 
of evergreens. The river seems to be coming to an end 
at the foot of these mountains. 

9. As we go on, a narrow passage opens between them, 
— so narrow, one could almost toss a stone from the boat 
to either bank. Through this passage, the river rushes 
so swiftly that the people here call this place the Morse 
Race, For a long distance, the river keeps this narrow 
path, with the mountains on each side of it. All this 
great cluster of mountains together, is called the Sigh- 
lands of the Hudson. 



44 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



10. In the Highlands, on a part of the mountain-side 
which is less steep, is West Point, of which you will 
hear and read many interesting things as you become 
older. Opposite West Point, is the narrowest part of 
the Hudson. Many years ago our country was at war 
with England, and the English had possession of New 
York. Our people then built strong forts here, with 
heavy guns pointing over the river, to fire on the 
English ships if they should attempt to go farther up 
the stream with their soldiers, to destroy the cities and 
farms along its banks. 

11. Beyond the Highlands, for many miles, the high, 
sloping banks of the river are again covered with fine 
farms and elegant buildings, with villages and cities 
here and there. Soon the distant Catshill Mountains 
can be seen in the west, like a bank of purple clouds. 
They do not approach very near to the river, but in 
some places can be seen quite plainly. 

12. Above the Catskills, the river contains many 
islands. Some are rocky and covered with trees, and 
look like little hills in the middle of the stream. 
Others are very flat, and covered with low plants. 

is. After some hours, we reach Albany, the largest 
city on the Hudson, except New York. It is built on a 
number of hills that rise up from the river, one beyond 
another ; so that, in passing, a great part of the city can 
be seen. On the top of one of these hills, surrounded 
by fine old elms, is a large building in which, every 
winter, chosen men, from all parts of the State meet to 
make the laws that govern its people. Because they 
meet here, Albany is called the cajntal of New York. 
The building in which they meet is named the Capitol. 



UP THE HUDSON. 45 



14. Six miles above Albany, there is a smaller city, 
named Troy. Here, as in Harrisburg and Pittsburg, 
are great furnaces and iron-works. We have now been 
from early morning until evening upon the river, and 
have gone from New York to Troj^, one hundred and 
fifty miles. 

is. We can go no farther than Troy on the steamer ; 
for here the stream becomes too small, and, like the 
Upper Mississippi, its course is filled with rapids and 
waterfalls. The finest of these is Glen's Falls. There, 
and at the other rapids and falls, are mills of different 
kinds, the wheels of which are moved by the water of the 
river. Thus the Upper Hudson, as well as the lower 
and larger part, is very important. Its source is far 
away in the northern part of the State, among some 
high, rugged mountains called the Adirondachs. 

16. Every part of the Hudson thus lies among moun- 
tains. Above the Palisades, mountains — sometimes 
near at hand, sometimes far off — are in sight of the 
river through the whole distance to its source. Along 
the entire length of the Mississippi, nearly ten times 
that of the Hudson, there is not a single mountain- 
range: the bluffs are the only high land to be seen. 
The Mississippi is the river of the Great Plain, but the 
Hudson is a mountain-river. 

17. The Hudson has only one large tributary, the 
Mohawk. It flows from the west, and enters the Hudson 
near Troy. The Mohawk valley is full of fine farms, 
and covered with pretty villages ; and along the river, 
are busy cities. The Dutch, who founded New York, 
made settlements about the mouth of the Mohawk ; and 
some of their fine old mansions are still to be seen. 



46 GEOGRAPHICAL HEADER. 



XII. -THE BRIE CANAL AND THE GREAT 
LAKES. 

Mack'-i-naw. | Mich'-i-gan [Mish'-]. | Chi-ca'-go [-caiv'-]. 

1. From Albany, a canal has been made through the 
Mohawk valley, connecting the Hudson with Lake 
Erie. It is a broad, deep channel filled with water, on 
which boats run between the river and the lake. Lake 
Erie is one of the five great lakes which extend along 
the northern border of the United States. By the 
Hudson, the Erie Canal, and the Great Lakes, we have 
a water-route all the way from New York to the great 
grain-fields on the prairies. 

2. Canal-boats, loaded at New York, are towed by 
steamboats up the river, and are drawn on the canal 
by horses walking on a tow-path beside it. At length 
they reach Buffalo, a fine city at the east end of Lake 
Erie. The goods are now taken from them, and put upon 
larger boats which sail upon the lakes ; and the canal- 
boats are loaded with grain, lumber, and other freight, 
and sent back to New York. 

3. Lake Erie is very different from the little lakes 
found among the hills on the Upper Mississippi. It is 
much longer than the whole distance from New York 
to Troy ; and is so wide,, that, if we were in the middle 
of it, we could scarcely see land on either side. 

4. Sometimes, when the wind blows hard, the water 
is lifted up in great ridges, with deep hollows between 
them, like little hills and valleys in the lake. These 
ridges of water are called waves, and they heave the 



THE ERIE CANAL AND THE GREAT LAKES. 47 



large vessels about as easily as you could toss an egg- 
shell in your hand. Sometimes vessels, driven ashore, 
are dashed in pieces by them ; and all the people on 
board are. drowned, and all the goods lost. The south- 
ern side of Lake Erie belongs to the United States ; 




The Mohawk Valley and the Erie Canal. 

and all along its shores, are cities and villages, where 
the steamers stop to receive or land passengers and 
goods. 

5. At the west end of Lake Erie, a short river enters 
it from the north. It comes from Lake Huron, and 
widens in the middle, forming Lake St. Clair. Lake 



48 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



Huron is near]y three times as large as Lake Erie. In it 
are many large, beautiful islands covered with" trees ; 
&nd, in almost its whole extent, it is bordered with 
forests like those about the source of the Mississippi. 
There are no large cities, and but few villages, on its 
shores. After we have gone the entire length of Lake 
Huron, we enter a short and rapid stream, named the 
Strait of Mackinaw. This brings us into Lake Michigan. 

6. Lake Michigan is the smaller one of two great 
lakes which we can enter from the head of Lake Huron. 
It extends far toward the south, and much of its shore 
is covered with forests. All around the southern part, 
are villages and cities, which are every day sending 
out vessels loaded with lumber from the forests, or with 
grain from the farms. At its head, is the great city of 
Chicago, which only a few years ago was but a small 
village. 

7. The grain, flour, beef, and pork produced in the 
region of the prairies around and far west of the Mis- 
sissippi are brought here in immense quantities, and 
forwarded to New York. From this place, they can 
easily be sent, in ocean ships, to all parts of the world. 
Since there are railroads running in every direction, 
Chicago trades with other cities, as well as with New 
York, to which it has this easy water-way by the lakes, 
the canal, and the Hudson. 

8. Lake Superior is the other great lake which is con- 
nected, by a short and narrow stream, with Lake Huron. 
Its shores, also, are covered with pine-forests. In some 
places on the south shore, there rise from the water's 
edge high walls of rocks of strange forms and differ- 
ent colors. These are called the Pictured Bocks. 



THE ERIE CANAL AND THE CHEAT LAKES. 49 



9. Parts of the shore are very high and steep ; and in 
one place a river, in entering the lake, falls over the 
steep precipice, making a beautiful waterfall. When 
there are storms, the waves dash against these rocks 
with great fury ; and, if there should be vessels in that 
part of the lake, they would be almost sure to be 
wrecked, for there is no sheltered harbor in which they 
could find safety. 

10. This is the largest lake of fresh water known 
in the whole world. It 
spreads out on all sides, 
like a great sea. A 
steamer is two or three 
days in going from one 
end of it to the other, 
and, in the middle parts, 
is out of sight of land, as 
though in the middle of 
the ocean. There are not 
so many vessels to be seen 
on this lake as on the 
other three ; and there are Copper Mining - 

no great cities, and but few villages, along its border. 

ii. On the south shore, there are large mines of 
copper, in which hundreds of men are at work all the 
time. Sometimes great lumps of copper are found, with 
no stone mixed with it, and all ready to be made into 
kettles, and other things for which copper is used. This 
is called native copper. Kich iron ore, also, is found on 
the south shore ; and all summer one may meet, on the 
lakes, vessels loaded with it. Ore is sent from these 
mines to cities on the shores of the other lakes, and 




50 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



even to more distant places, where there are furnaces 
for separating the metal. 

12. Toward the foot of the lake, near Lake Huron, 
many people are engaged in catching white-fish, which 
are abundant here. In the forests along the shores, 
are many wild animals which are hunted for their furs. 
Among these is the beaver. Do you know how he builds 




his home upon the streams? 

13. At the western end of Lake 
Superior, the St. Louis River 
enters it. This stream has its 
source very near that of the Mis- 
sissippi, in the same forest-covered hills ; and, like that 
river, its waters find their way, through a long, long 
course, to the Atlantic Ocean. 



LAKE ONTARIO AND THE ST. LAWRENCE. 51 



XIII. — LAKE ONTARIO AND THE ST. 
LAWRENCE. 



St. Law'-rence. 
La-ehine' [sheen']. 



Mon-tre-al' [-aivl']. 
Que-bec'. 



Mont-mo-ren'-ci [-se]. 
Ot'-ta-wa. 



1. From the east end of Lake Erie, a passage leads 
northward to another great basin. This passage is 
called Niagara River, and the basin beyond is Lake 
Ontario. About half way 
between these lakes, are 
the great Niagara Falls. 
Standing on the bank by 
the water's edge, below 
the fall, yon see before 
you a high wall of water, 
nearly a mile in length, 
pouring down from above, 
filling the air with clouds 
of mist, and almost deafen- 
ing you with its roaring. ^'agara Fa«»- 

2. This broad mass of water is of a pale green color ; 
the boiling, rolling stream below is snowy white ; while 
the clouds of mist show, in the sunshine, all the colors 
of the rainbow. In the middle of the fall, is an island, 
crowned with evergreen trees ; and its black rocks divide 
the beautiful green waters into two broad sheets. 

3. The broad green wall of waters, the white foamy 
mass below, the black rocks, and the dark-green foliage, 
with the terrible roaring, thundering noise of the rush- 
ing waters, present a scene more grand and wonderful 
than any thing you can imagine. 




52 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



4. Lake Ontario is the last and the smallest of the five 
Great Lakes, and the only one that has both shores bor- 
dered everywhere with farms, villages, and cities. The 
southern shore belongs to the United States, and the 
northern to Canada. From the eastern end of this 
lake, the water flows north-eastward to the Atlantic, in 
a great stream called the St. Lawrence. At the point 
where it leaves the lake, is a city on the Canada shore 
named Kingston. From this place, steamers are every 
day going down the river, and around the lake, stop- 
ping at all the important places. 

5. The part of the river near the lake is filled with a 
great number of islands, - — some quite large, and others 
very small. They are all covered with tall forest-trees, 
and are reflected in the quiet waters as in a mirror, 
making a very beautiful picture. This part is called 
the Lake of the Thousand Lsles. 

6. Below the Thousand Isles, the river is broad and 
gentle for a long distance, with fine forests on both sides 
of it, and only here and there a village on the banks. 
Farther on, the banks become higher and steeper, and 
the river more swift, and we enter the great rapids. 
In the middle of the stream, are many islands ; and the 
river foams and dashes through the narrow channels, 
carrying our boat with it. It needs several strong men 
to guide it so that it shall not strike the rocks in its 
passage. These are the Lachine Rapids. 

7. We could not go up the rapids as we have come 
down ; for the water would force the boat back as fast 
as the steam could drive it forward. For this reason, a 
canal has been cut around the rapids, for vessels which 
are going up stream. 



LAKE ONTARIO AND THE ST. LAWRENCE. 53 



8. A little below the Thousand Isles, the river leaves 
the border of the United States, and goes across a part 
of Canada to the ocean. There are not upon its banks 
such numbers of villages and cities as along the Mis- 
sissippi and the Hudson ; for this part of Canada 




The Citadel of 
Quebec. 



is rather cold, and does not contain many people. The 
country is, in many parts, still covered with forests 
where only hunters, Indians, and wild animals live. 

9. The largest city on the St. Lawrence is Montreal, 
a little way below Lachine Rapids. It is situated at 
the foot of a mountain, on a fine island in the river. 
Opposite the upper end of the island, a large stream, 
called the Ottawa, flows into the St. Lawrence from the 
north. 

10. Quebec, another city on the St. Lawrence, is built 
at the mouth of the St. Charles, about one day's jour- 



54 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



ney for a steamboat, below Montreal. It stands on the 
point of land made by the meeting of the two rivers. 
In front, the ground is nearly as low as the river ; but 
farther back, it rises in a steep bluff. 

11. Quebec is built partly on the low, and partly on 
the high land. The Upper Town — that is, the part 
on the hill — contains a strong fort called the Citadel, 
and is surrounded by a great wall with five gates. In 
the citadel, are soldiers whose duty it is to defend the 
town if an enemy should attack it. 

12. Looking about you from the Citadel, you see, in 
front, the river spread out like a broad lake, its surface 
dotted with vessels, with now and then a steamer hur- 
rying to and fro, or a raft of lumber floating slowly 
down the stream. 

13. Below you is the Lower Town, having on one 
side the broad St. Lawrence, and on the other the small, 
beautiful St. Charles. Behind, away in the distance, are 
green hills and forest-covered mountains, and, stretch- 
ing away to the east as far as you can see, the great 
river, becoming always broader and broader, until it 
seems to be itself another lake going to the sea; for it 
soon becomes half as wide as Lake Erie. 1 

14. The French people began to build this town, long 
before the Dutch commenced New York ; and though 
the English took it from them in time of war, there are 
still many French people living here, and French is more 
spoken than English. 

15. The summers in Quebec are quite warm ; but the 
winters are long, and very, very cold. The snow is 

1 The St. Lawrence just below Quebec is twelve miles in width; but, 
long before it reaches the Gulf, it has a width of near thirty miles. 



LAKE ONTARIO AND THE ST. LAWRENCE. 55 



deep; and the small lakes and rivers, and even the great 
St. Lawrence, from Montreal all the way to the sea, are 
frozen over for several months. Then people drive 
about upon them in sleighs, instead of sailing in boats 
as in summer. 

16. When the spring comes, and the ice in the St. 
Lawrence begins to break up, the sight is very grand. 
Great blocks of ice are carried down stream by the 
water ; for the upper part, nearest the lake, feels the 
warm weather first: and they are sometimes heaped 
one upon another, until mountains of ice are made. 
The strongest bridges are often broken away by the 
drifting ice. 

17. A few miles below Quebec, a small river, called 
the Montmorenci, flows into the St. Lawrence. The 
banks of the great river are here very high ; and the 
water of the Montmorenci makes a long leap to get 
from its own bed down to the St. Lawrence. As you 
sail along, you do not see the small river, which is far 
above, and hidden by the bank : you see only the water 
pouring over a great precipice, higher than that of 
Niagara, as if coming from the clouds. This is the Falls 
of Montmorenci. 

18. In winter the falls are very grand, and many 
people go from Quebec to see them. The ground is 
buried in snow; and the branches of the evergreen 
pines and firs are bending under its weight. The leaf- 
less trees, even to every little twig, are covered with 
ice; and when the sun rises in the morning, and shines 
upon them, they glisten like a forest of diamonds. 

19. The precipice, too, is covered with ice ; and the 
mist which rises from the bottom, as at Niagara, freezes, 



56 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



and forms steep hillocks of ice. People drive to Mont- 
rnorenci from Quebec, and sometimes stay all day, skat- 
ing, or climbing the ice-hills and sliding down then- 
steep slopes. 

20. From this place to the ocean, the river flows on 
broad and majestic, with forests covering the whole 
country around, and on both sides mountains rising in 
the distance. In these forests, are many wild animals, 
some of them covered with the finest fur. Many In- 
dians and Canadians hunt them for their furs, which are 
made into warm wraps, for use in the long, cold winters. 



XIV.— LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND THE ADIRON- 
DACK^. 

Cham-plain'. Rich'-e-lieu. New Eng'-land. 

[sham-]. I [reesh'-e-loo]. | l-ing'-]. 

i. Ik following the St. Lawrence to the sea, we were 
obliged to leave our own country and go into Canada. 
There is a very pleasant part of the United States, lying 
to the south of the St. Lawrence, which we could not 
see on this journey. 

2. Between Montreal and Quebec, there is a river, 
named Richelieu, flowing northward into the St. Law- 
rence, from Lake Chamjilain, which lies between New 
York and New England. At the upper end of this lake, 
is a smaller, but more beautiful one, the water of which 
flows into Lake Champlain. This is Lake G-eorge. 

3. These lakes have clear blue water, with many little 
islands rising from the surface, covered with evergreen 
trees. On their shores, are forest-covered mountains and 



LAKE CHAMP LAIN AND TEE ADIRONDACKS. 57 



hills, which, with the islands, are all pictured in the 
quiet waters below, as in a mirror ; and away in the dis- 
tance, on both sides, are other and higher mountains, 
that make a framework of green for the clear, bright 
lakes. You can hardly imagine how beautiful they are. 
Many people go every summer from New York and 




Lake George. 

other cities, and live in little 
villages on the shores of 
these lakes, to enjoy the views, sail on the clear waters, 
and climb the green hills that border them. 

4. The high mountains west of Lake Champlain are 
the Adirondack^. They belong to the Appalachian sys- 
tem, but are much higher and rougher than the moun- 
tains of Pennsylvania. If you were on the top of one, 
and looking over the country, you would find, as far 
as your eye could reach, mountain beyond mountain, 
stretching away on every side, like the waves of a 
great rolling sea. 

5. The whole country is covered with grand old for- 
ests, just as it was before the white people came. Here 
and there, on the steep sides of the mountains, you 
see large spaces of bare rock. These were once, like 
the rest, covered with trees. At some time, after a 
long rain, the earth upon these rocks became loosened 



58 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



from its place, and went sliding down the mountains, 
carrying all the great trees with it to the foot, leaving 
the mountain-side bare and drear, as you now see it. 
6. In the hollows among the mountains, are hundreds 
_ " h of small lakes, whose black waters 
reflect the mountains, the forests, 
and the sky as perfectly as the 
finest mirror. If you were upon one 
of these lakes in the night-time, you 
could see the sky and the moon and 
stars below you just as distinctly 
as above ; and you would almost be- 
lieve that you had been taken away 
from the earth, and placed in the 
middle of the great heavens. 

7. Nowhere, in all this great 
mountain country over which you 
look, can you see a single village, 
or even a farm. These forest-cov- 
ered mountains still belong to the 
wild beasts ; and bears, wolves, and 
deer, with hundreds of smaller ani- 
mals, everywhere roam at will. 

8. There are rich ores of iron in 
all parts of the Adirondacks; but 
some of the richest beds are away 
in the midst of the mountains, where 

rough that they cannot easily be 
reached for working. In the region around the moun- 
tains, are villages and cities, where the people are melting 
ore, or making articles from iron, as in Pennsylvania. 




The Adirondacks, Mt. Marcy. 

the country is so 



NEW ENGLAND. 59 



XV. -NEW ENGLAND. 

Bos'-ton. | Brook'-lyn. I Ches'-a-peake [-peek]. 

Con-nect'-i-cut[-7ie£'-]. I Bal'-ti-more [bawl'-]. I Po-to'-mac. 

i. The part of our country east of Lake Champlain 
is called New England. There is first a range of forest- 
covered mountains, extending away to the south much 
farther than we can see. This is the beautiful Green 
Mountain range. Beyond this, is a long valley extend- 
ing southward by its side. 

2. This is not a level valley ; but it is covered with 
low, green hills. In every part of it we see fine farms, 
and pretty, busy villages and cities. In the middle of 
the valley, winding along its whole length, is the Con- 
necticut River. Its pleasant banks are dotted with farm- 
houses, surrounded by green meadows, orchards, and 
fields of grain. 

3. Beyond the valley, is another ridge of land, on the 
northern part of which is a knot of mountains some- 
what like the Adirondacks, but much higher than they. 
These are the White Mountains. Mount Washington 
is the highest of them. The high peaks near it are 
named for other presidents; and it is common to call 
this whole group the Presidents* Range. 

4. All over New England, are green hills and fruit- 
ful valleys, or forest-covered mountains with beautiful 
glassy lakes, as in the Adirondacks. From these, flow 
silvery streams, which go dancing along, adown the 
hills and mountains, to the sea. On their banks, are 
villages, crowded with mills whose wheels are turned 



60 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



by the swift waters : and great cities, filled with busy 
people who are sawing, hammering, spinning, weaving, 
grinding, and making all sorts of things, — working 
away as though they had twice as many things to do as 
they could possibly find time for. 

5. On the seashore, too, are large cities. Here they 




White Mountains. 



are building great ships to sail on the ocean, or loading 
them with lumber from the forests, ice from the moun- 
tain lakes (for it is very cold here in winter), and boots 
and shoes, and cloth, and all sorts of goods. Thus they 
send these things to market, and bring back cotton for 
their mills, sugar and tea and coffee for their tables, 
and many other things which they need. Other vessels 



NEW ENGLAND. 



61 



go toward the mouth of the St. Lawrence, to the fishing- 
grounds, or take brave men away to the distant parts 
of the ocean to catch whales. 

6. The rivers are full of rapids and falls, and very few 
are large enough for vessels to sail upon ; but there are 




The City of Boston. 

railroads all over the country, to carry the goods from 
place to place. Everywhere are fine schools, in which 
children and young people can learn whatever they need 
to make them wise and useful. 

7. The largest of the cities in New England is Bos- 
ton. You will, as you become older, hear of many 
beautiful and interesting things which are in Boston, 
and of many learned and good men who have lived 
there. 



62 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



8. At this city we will take one of the New-England 
steamers, and sail southward along our whole Atlantic 
coast. On the way we shall pass several great cities. 
Brooklyn is one of them. It is on Long Island, and is 
separated from New York by the East River. Boats go, 
every few minutes, from city to city, carrying thousands 
of people back and forth every day. Many gentlemen 
who live in Brooklyn have offices in New York, and go 
over every morning to their business, and back every 
evening to their homes. 

9. Farther south, are Philadelphia and Baltimore, nei- 
ther of which is upon the sea-shore, but ships can easily 
reach both. They are near parts of the ocean called 
bays ; which extend, like arms, away from its great body, 
far into the land. Philadelphia is near Delaware Bay, 
into which the Delaware River flows. Baltimore is 
near Chesapeake Bay, on one of the rivers which flow 
into it. 

io. South of Baltimore the Potomac flows into this bay. 
Upon the Potomac is Washington, a city of great 
interest to us. There the President lives, and every 
year men chosen by all the different States meet there 
to make laws for the country ; for Washington is the 
capital of the United States. 

11, Still farther south, upon the sea-shore, are several 
fine cities, though no very large ones. Here we pass 
the turpentine forests, the palmetto groves, the cotton- 
fields, the swampy rice lands, and the immense marshes 
of the southern part of the Atlantic Plain, with their 
trailing moss and their water plants, their alligators and 
their swamp birds. 

12. Here, also, are forests of the live-oak, the wood 



IN THE BOCKY MO UN TAIN CO UN TUT. 63 



of which is very durable, and is excellent for building 
ships. Now we sail along the coast of Florida, the 
most southern State of our country. Finally we turn 
westward, pass into the Gulf of Mexico, and at length 
arrive at New Orleans. 

13. We have now seen the eastern half of the United 
States, the part in which are all but one of the great 
cities, and in which most of the people live. Every- 
where we have found rich farms, fine forests, or fruitful 
prairies ; and in every part, are rivers and lakes, some 
small, others so very large that we can sail upon them 
hundreds and even thousands of miles. 

14. This half of the United States, with its rich lands, 
its great lakes, and long rivers, extends beyond the 
Mississippi, almost half way to the foot of the Rocky 
Mountains. You will find the western half very differ- 
ent ; but I hope it will interest you to learn something 
about it. 



XVI. -IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN COUNTRY, 
buf'-fa-loes [-loze]. | past'-ure [-yur], | Den'-ver. 

l. The prairie land, beginning along the Mississippi, 
extends westward to the Rocky Mountains, the limit 
of the Great Central Plain. The far western prairies, 
however, are not rich and beautiful like those along 
the Mississippi, but are high, dry, and somewhat bar- 
ren. On these prairies herds of buffaloes still feed, 
and the wild Indians still roam. They live in little 
huts, and spend their time in hunting and fighting. 
They hunt the buffaloes for the flesh, which they use 



64 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



for food; and for the skins, which they sell to white 
people to make overcoats and wraps for the cold 
winter. 

2. When the buffaloes have eaten all the grass from 
one portion of the prairies, they go to another where 
they find it fresh and green. The Indians, knowing 
where the best pastures are, and when the herds will 




An Indian Lodge 



go to each, follow them, — some to one place, and some 
to another. They go in companies, with their wives 
and children, and stay until the buffaloes have done 
feeding in that place, sometimes several weeks. 

3. When they go to the hunt, they ride on their fleet- 
est horses ; for the buffaloes run very swiftly. Many 
hunters usually go out together, and, when they have 
found a herd, surround the place, drive them together, 



IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN COUNTRY. 



65 



and kill them in great numbers. Sometimes, too, they 
drive them swiftly to the edge of a precipice, over which 
they fall, and hundreds at a time are killed. The In- 
dians are very fond of this way of hunting. 

4. The Rocky Mountains are quite different from any 
mountains in the eastern half of the United States. If 
you could look down upon 
them from above, you 
would see two great 
ranges, side by side, with 
a wide valley between 
them. They are so lofty 
that their lowest passes 
are higher than the high- 
est peaks of the Appa- 
lachians. Many short 
ranges, crossing between 
them, cut up the great 
inner valley into broad 
basins, some of them dark 
with forests, and others 
bright with rich prairie- 
grass. All the lower and 
middle slopes of these 
mountains are thickly covered with forests. 

5. Higher up, the trees become smaller and smaller, 
until there are only bare gray rocks, with here and 
there patches of grass or of bright mountain flowers. 
Beyond these, are the high, wild peaks, covered with 
snow even in summer, and glistening above the dark 
forests and rocks like crowns of silver. These peaks 
have all sorts of rugged, broken forms ; and the whole 




Rocky Mountains. 



66 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



mountain-system looks as though the earth's crust had 
been all torn and broken in pieces, instead of gently 
folded, as it appeared in the Appalachians. 

6. You would hardly suppose people could wish to 
live among the Rocky Mountains ; but large numbers 
of men are there, and more are going every year. Great 
herds of cattle are pastured in the valleys between the 
ranges ; and in the mountains, are rich mines of silver 
and gold, with towns growing up around them. Denver, 
at the eastern side of the mountains, is already quite a 
large city. 

7. The Rocky Mountains make a great dividing wall, 
extending across the entire country. Even the water 
from the springs on the eastern side goes away to the 
Mississippi, and finally to the Atlantic Ocean; while 
that on the western side goes to the Pacific. As you 
become older, you will be able to understand, much 
better than you now can, how very important this 
mountain-system is. 



XVII. - ON THE TABLE-LAND. 

Si-er'-ra Ne-va'-da. can'-on. Co-lo-ra'-do. 

[Se-er'-ra Na-vah'-da], I [can' -yon]. I [-rah'-]. 

l. Beyond the Rocky Mountains, is another vast 
plain, many hundred miles broad ; and on the western 
border of that, is another great system of mountains, 
called the Sierra Nevada. This whole plain between 
the two mountain-systems is lifted up, so that it is 
higher than the ranges of the Appalachian Moun- 



ON THE TABLE-LAND. 



67 



tains. Such a high plain is called a table-land, or some- 
times a plateau. 

2. On this great table-land, it rains but very few times 
in the year. For this rea- 
son, the soil is so dry that 
only a few kinds of plants 
can grow, and there are 
no trees at all. The low 
plants do not look fresh 
and green, but gray and 
dusty, so that, a little way 
from them, you would 
think you were looking 
only on the bare gray 
earth. You may travel for 
days, and find still the 
same dry, dreary country. 
How very different is this 
from the great forests of 
the Atlantic Plain, and the 
rich green prairies near 
the Mississippi! 

3. Have you ever seen 
those plants called the 
cactus and the prichly- 
pear? We have them set 
in boxes in our gardens ; 
and in winter they must be kept in a warm room, for 
the frost would kill them. In a part of the table-land 
south of the middle, these are almost the only plants ; 
and they grow much taller and larger than any we 
have, for that is their native country. 




The Cactus. 



68 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



4. They are not covered with leaves, but are only 
great, branching, juicy stalks, with little bunches of 
hairs dotting them all over. These gather every bit of 
moisture there is in the air, and store it away in the 
great soft stalks : thus the cactus can grow where 
grasses and other plants would soon dry up, and die. 
Many of them have large scarlet or crimson flowers, 
which are very beautiful. They grow directly from the 
great stalks, without any slender stem, such as most 
flowers have. 

5. In the holiows in different parts of the table-land, 
are lakes of salt water, some so salt that fish cannot 
live in them. Into some, little streams of water flow, 
from the springs among the mountains and hills ; and 
along the borders of these, you will find a line of 
fresh green grass, and sometimes trees. These green 
belts with the bright streams, in the midst of this 
broad, gray, dreary land, are very beautiful. They are 
almost the only places on the great table-land where 
people can live. The largest of the lakes is Great Salt 
Lake. It is in Utah, where a very singular people, called 
Mormons, live. 

6. In the whole table-land, where there is so little 
rain, there are but few rivers. These do not, like 
others which we have seen, flow through beautiful 
green valleys, with gentle slopes on each side, covered 
with farms and gardens. You may be riding across the 
country, and before you, as far as the eye can reach, 
there is no valley, no stream, to be seen. 

7., Presently you look down, and right there under 
}-our feet, is a great crack in the earth, with a solid wall 
of rock, like the Palisades, on each side of it. Down 



ON THE TABLE-LAND. 



69 



as far as you can see, there is not a spot on which you 

could set your foot, or where a single little tree or plant 

could find room to grow. 

At the bottom is a river, not 

bright and sparkling, but 

looking black and terrible 

in the dark shadow of the 

rocky walls. Such a place is 

called a canon. 

8. There are canons on 
some part of the course of 
nearly all the larger streams. 
Some are much deeper than 
others ; and in some, there 
is a little strip of bottom- 
land, or a sloping bank, at 
the side of the stream. In 
others, there is, for miles, 
not a single spot where, if 
you were in a boat on the 
river, you could leave it; 
for you would not find room 
even to stand between the 
water and the rocky walls 
of the canon, and you could 
no more climb up these walls 
than you could climb the 
side of a house. The Colo- 
rado, the largest river in all 

this part Of the COUntry, The CaRon of the Colorado River. 

flows in deep canons through almost its whole course. 

9. You see that the country west of the Rocky Moun- 




TO GEOGRAPHICAL BEADEB. 



fcains, is not a good land for farmers, for in most of it 
nothing useful can grow ; and as the larger rivers flow 
through deep canons, instead of fertile valleys, there 
are not many good places for cities. You would sup- 
pose people here could find nothing to do, and would 
have nothing to live on. But this is not so. In the 
mountains on the table-land, as well as in the Rocky 
Mountains, there are veins of gold and silver. Thus 
even this part of our country is good for something. 

9. Men go to the mines to dig the gold and silver 
from the earth ; others go to sell food and clothing to 
the miners : and so, after a time, a large number of 
people gather, and villages or cities spring up where 
we would not have supposed anybody could possibly live. 
These places are not very pleasant to live in. Many 
are far from any railroad ; and most of the food for the 
people must be brought, with great difficulty, over this 
wild, dreary country, in wagons, or on the backs of 
mules travelling in long trains. 



XVIII. — IN CALIFORNIA. 

Cal-i-f or'-ni-a. San Fran-cis'-co. i Los An'-gel-es. 

ran-che'-ro [-cha'-~\. vine'-yard [-vin'-]. I [Loce An'-jel-ez]. 

1. When we have passed over the great table-land, 
we reach California, a part of our country of which, 
I have no doubt, you have often heard. It has, on the 
eastern border, the high wall of the Sierra Nevada, with 
peaks reaching up into the clouds and covered with 
snow and ice. 



IN CALIFORNIA. 71 



2. These snowy peaks shut in many narrow valleys, 
the sides of which are not gentle slopes, but steep 
precipices. Into some of them, rivers leap, forming 
waterfalls of immense height. West of this mountain- 
border, is a wide and beautiful valley, with clear lakes 
and bright rivers that have never had their waters 
locked with ice ; for it is always warm there. Beyond 
this valley, is a range of low mountains like the Appa- 
lachians, and then comes the broad Pacific Ocean. 

3. In the valley in the middle of California, are farms 
with great fields of grain, and orchards in which grow 
the most excellent fruits. There are also gardens of 
grape-vines, called vineyards, much finer than those on 
the banks of the Ohio. Every thing that is raised on 
the farms or in the gardens of the east, grows in Cali- 
fornia much better and larger ; besides, in the south, are 
figs and oranges, and many other things that grow only 
in warm countries. 

4. In the southern part of the State, there are large 
prairies, covered with tall, rich grass and wild oats, 
where thousands of cattle and horses are raised. 
Sometimes one man owns as much as a whole county. 
His land is not called a farm, but a ranch. Nobody, 
not even he himself, knows how many horses and cattle 
he has ; for they run wild on the ranch. There are 
herdsmen, called rancheros, who have charge of them, 
but who really give them little attention. 

5. Once a year the cattle are driven together and 
counted, and the young ones are marked so that they 
can be known; and that is about all the care they re- 
ceive. As snow hardly ever lies on the ground, they 
feed all winter in the fields, upon the ripened oats and 



T2 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



the grass which has turned into hay while standing in 
the field. 

6. In the valleys among the mountains of California, 
are forests of wonderful old trees, so large that you can 
hardly imagine how big they are. In several places, 

there are groves 
in which some 
trees are so large 
round that they 
would fill your 
whole school- 
room, and are 
twice as tall as 
the tallest 
church- steeple 
you ever saw. 
Nobody knows 
how long they 
have been grow- 
ing ; but they 

The Bottom of One of the Big Trees. mUSt have been 

there many hundred years before any white people came 
to this country. 

7. But it is not the farms, nor ranches, nor forests, 
which interest people most in California. It is the great 
quantity of gold found in the mountains on its eastern 
border, which has brought people here from every part 
of the world. 

8. One day in the year 1848, when our people were 
only just beginning to go to there, and we knew hardly 
any thing about it, a man who was at work near one 
of the streams flowing from these mountains found 




IN CALIFOENIA. 73 



some grains of gold in the sand which the water had 
washed down. This showed that there must be gold 
in the mountains from which the river came ; and, as 
soon as it was heard of, thousands of people rushed to 
California to get rich. 

9. At first everybody went to the gold-fields. There 
were no farms bought and worked by the new-comers, 
no mills built, nor any thing done but to dig for gold. 
For this reason, though this State has some of the best 
farming-land in the world, and some of the finest forests, 
and can produce almost every thing that people need, 
it then furnished them no supplies. The food for all 
those thousands of people, the cloth for their clothing, 
their boots and shoes, the spades and wheel-barrows 
they used in the mines, and even the timbers for their 
houses, all ready to be put together, — all were sent 
there from the great cities of the Atlantic Plain, — New 
York, Philadelphia, and Boston. 

10. But people soon found that they could become rich 
just as rapidly by buying farms and raising food for the 
miners, and building mills and making the things that 
were needed, as by working at the mines. Now there 
is much more grain, fruit, lumber, wine, butter, and 
cheese produced in California, than the people need for 
their own use .; and they are able to send these things 
to other countries. 

li. On one part of the sea-shore, the Pacific sends a 
long arm, like a great river or lake, far into the land. 
This is San Francisco Bay. The entrance from the 
ocean is between high, rocky walls, where the mountain- 
range that borders the sea-shore, has been broken down 
to its foot. This entrance is the Golden Gate. 



74 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



12. Beside this broad, blue, quiet bay, just within the 
Golden Gate, there stood, when the first gold-seekers 
went to California, a small, ill-looking village. Most of 
the houses were made of a kind of clay or mud ; the 
streets were narrow and dirty; and the people looked 
no more attractive than the town. On all this beauti- 
ful bay, only a few small vessels and a dozen or two 
fishing-boats, could be seen. 

13. Now, instead of this mean village, we find a great 
and rich city. Large, fine buildings adorn it; its streets 
are full of people hurrying to and fro ; and the bay is 
covered with ships from every part of the world. This 
is one thing that has been done for California by the 
discovery of gold. The city which has grown up so 
quickly is San Francisco. 

14. There are other fine cities now in all parts of the 
wide valley. On the southern coast, is a place where 
the country was so beautiful, and the air so delightful, 
that the people who discovered the site chose it at once 
for their dwelling-place, and called the town they founded 
Los Angeles, which means " city of the angels." 

is. The hillsides and valleys about the city are cov- 
ered with vinej^ards, orange-groves, and orchards, from 
which are sent out great quantities of delicious peaches, 
pears, figs, oranges, and grapes. They go not only to 
San Francisco and other parts of California, but even 
to New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. 

10. For a time the Golden Gate was the only way of 
entrance to California, except the long weary journey 
by teams, across the great table-land. But now railroads 
lead from San Francisco, through all the principal cities, 
to every part of the country east of the Mississippi. 



THE COLD COUNTBIES OF THE NORTH . 



75 



XIX. -THE COLD COUNTRIES OF THE NORTH. 



Do-min'-ion [-ywi]. | Au-ro'-ra [-rah]. 



| rein'-deer [rain-']. 



i. North of the United States, there is a country 
which is colder than ours. It, also, extends from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean : and it stretches north- 
ward to the shores of still another ocean, called the 
Arctic. This country is British America, and the 
southern part is named the Dominion of Canada. 

2. The larger part of British America is one great 
forest reaching nearly to 
the shores of the Arctic kj 
Ocean. In it are wild vyi 
animals of many different 
kinds, — the wolf, bear, 
reindeer, moose, musk- 
ox, and many others. 

3. Almost the only 
people in all this great 
forest are Indians, who 
spend their time in hunt- 
ing, fishing, and fighting. 
Here and there, by the side of some of the large lakes 
and rivers, are a few white men, who live there in order 
to hunt the wild animals for their furs, or to buy furs 
and skins from the Indian hunters. Some of the furs 
are sold to the people of Canada, but many are sent 
away to other cold countries. In all this forest country, 
during half the year or more, the ground is covered with 
snow and ice, and the rivers and lakes frozen over. 




76 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



4. Far to the north, the forest becomes thin and the 
trees very small. By and by there are no longer any 
trees. They cannot grow here, not because it is too 
dry, as was the case in the table-land west of the Rocky 
Mountains, but because it is too cold. There are only a 
few low shrubs ; and near the shore of the Arctic Ocean, 
even these all disappear, and nothing grows but mosses, 
and other low plants. 

5. Here the snow is on the ground all the year except 

a month or two ; and 
even then, if you should 
dig into the earth a little 
way, you would find it 
frozen. When the snow 
is gone, the sun warms 
the surface ; and the 
plants quickly spring 
up, blossom, and bear 
their fruits. The rein- 
deer and musk-ox come from the forest to feed on the 
fresh mosses ; and for a short time, this cold, dreary re- 
gion seems quite bright and pleasant. 

6. On the Arctic shores, as you see, the summer lasts 
only about a month. All the rest of the year is winter ; 
and, what will seem strange to you, the winter days are 
very, very short. Just before Christmas, there is one 
day in which the sun does not rise at all, and there 
are two or three weeks in which you hardly see it. It 
is night nearly all the time, but not very dark, for 
the stars are bright; and the white snow and the large 
moon shining brightly, make the night nearly as light 
as the day. These, with the brilliant northern lights, or 




A Musk-Ox. 



THE COLD COUNTRIES OF THE NORTH 



77 



Aurora, in the sky, make the long winter nights much 
more pleasant than we would suppose they could be. 

7. I presume you have often seen the northern lights ; 
but, although we think the sight is very grand, it is 
nothing compared to that which can be seen in this 
frozen country. We see, generally, only a soft, steady 




Walrus. 



The Aurora. 



Arctic Sea. 



light away in the north ; and it is not bright enough to 
make the night much less dark. 

8. But in the Arctic sky, a great bow or arch of light, 
brighter than the brightest stars, extends across the 
northern heavens. Below it the sky looks as black as 
ink ; but above, great bands or streamers of light flash 
up to the middle of the heavens, and chase each other, 



78 GEOGRAPHICAL HEADER. 



as quick as lightning, from one end of the bow to the 
other. Sometimes they are of the most brilliant colors, 
red below, green in the middle, and the brightest yellow 
above. You can hardly imagine how grand this great 
arch of light appears, flashing and dancing all across the 
northern sky. 

9. After a winter night, which lasts as long as from 
noon to-day until noon to-morrow, there is, about twelve 
o'clock, a brightness in the southern horizon, like that 
which we see in the east just before the sun rises. This 
continues only a short time ; but these few minutes of 
dim light are the whole of the shortest winter day. 

10. The next day, about twelve o'clock, the sun peeps 
above the southern horizon for a half-hour, and then 
goes away again. The next day he stays a little longer, 
rising earlier, and setting later; and so on, each day, 
until, in June, there is one day in which he does not set, 
and several days in which he shines nearly all the time, 
hardly disappearing at all. Thus you see, throughout 
the year, there is no more night than day, just as it is 
everywhere. The trouble is, that, when the sun is up, 
it does not give much warmth to this poor, frozen 
country. 

11. You know that the sun rises in the east, goes 
through the southern sky, and sets in the west. We 
see it on only three sides of us. But in the Arctic 
regions, in that longest day in summer, the sun goes 
quite round the heavens, and may be seen on the hori- 
zon directly in the north. Is not that very singular? 
The people who live here, I suppose, do not think any 
thing about it, because they do not know but that it is 
just the same all over the earth. 



THE ESQUIMAUX. 79 



XX. -THE ESQUIMAUX. 
Es'-qui-maux [-ke-mo]. | es-pe'-cial-ly [-pes7i'-al-]. | ice'-berg. 

1. A very singular people, called Esquimaux, live 
about the Arctic Ocean. Though the country is so cold 
that we would hardly suppose any one could live there, 
they seem to make themselves very comfortable. 

2. Their clothing is made from the skins of wild ani- 
mals, especially from that of the reindeer. They pre- 
pare it with the hair on, and make a sort of dress all 
in one piece, — cap, shirt, trousers, and shoes, — so that, 
when they have it on, you might almost think it their 
own natural covering. Their chief food is fish and the 
flesh of the reindeer, and of the seal, walrus, and whale, 
which inhabit the icy seas. 

3. The reindeer stays here only during the short 
summer, while it can obtain food : so the people must 
kill enough then to last them all the year. The women 
cut up the meat, and dry it, and in this way keep it 
for the long winter. They also catch and dry the fish. 
The seal is hunted in the spring, when the ice begins to 
break ; and the whale, during the summer. 

4. Through the winter, the Esquimaux live in log 
huts, which they build from the trunks of trees that 
have floated down the long rivers from the forests. 
They pile up snow around and over the hut, and make 
a hole in one side, at the bottom, through which they 
creep in and out. This is shut with a snow-door. They 
have no windows at all, and, indeed, windows would 
not be of much use, as there is so little daylight. 



80 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



5. Here all live together. They cook their food by a 
lamp of bone, in which they burn the oil of the whales 
caught in summer ; and this lamp furnishes all the fire 
and light in the house. Here they stay from the time 
when the leaves of our trees begin to fall, until they 
are green again in spring. Then all quit their winter 
quarters, and go to the islands along the coast to watch 
for the seaL 

6. Now they cannot find logs with which to make 

houses, and it is too 
cold to live in tents. 
What do you suppose 
they do? They make 
houses of snow. They 
first trace a circle as 
large as they wish 
their house to be, 
then cut the snow 
from the inside in 
nice smooth blocks 
like large bricks. 
These, laid one upon 
another, are soon 
frozen together. 

The Esquimaux. 7. While building, 

one man works on the inside of the house, and an- 
other on the outside. When done, it looks like an 
immense wash-bowl turned bottom upward. The man 
who is inside cuts an opening at the bottom, and 
creeps out ; and a snow door is made to close it, as 
in the other houses. They sometimes cut places for 
windows, and put in them thin pieces of clear ice for 




THE ESQUIMAUX. 



81 



glass. A snow-house with a snow door and ice windows ! 
— do you think it would be a very warm place? But 
they find it warm enough, and seem to be entirely con- 
tented and happy. 




An Iceberg. 

8. The Esquimau children must look very odd, with 
their deer-skin dress ; but they are good-natured, and 
seem as happy in their snow huts, eating dried fish, and 
drinking whale oil, as our children do in their pleasant 
parlors, with the nice food and clothing which their 
kind mothers prepare for them. 

9. The Arctic Ocean is full of ice in summer as well 
as in winter. The wind drives it from one place to 
another in great masses ; and sometimes ships, in which 
brave men were trying to find a path through this 



82 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



frozen ocean from the Atlantic to the Pacific, have 
been shut up by the ice, and kept there until the men 
were all starved, or frozen to death. Some of these 
ships have afterward been found, with the frozen men 
lying in their beds, or sitting at their tables, just as 
they did years before, when they were waiting for the 
ice to break and go away. 

10. Sometimes great masses of ice, called icebergs, 
strike the ships, and break them in pieces. Then the 
sailors who escape, and are not picked up by other ships, 
must go and live with the Esquimaux until they can 
find some means of getting away. 



XXI. -IN THE WARM COUNTRIES OF THE 
SOUTH. 

West In'-dies [-cliz]. | Mon-te-zu'-ma [-zoo'-]. | dah'-lia [dcthl'-ya]. 

1. We have seen that the southern part of the United 
States is much warmer than the northern. The coun- 
tries yet farther south are still more heated. Such are 
Mexico and Central America, and some great islands, 
called the West Indies, which lie in the adjacent ocean. 
There the whole year is one constant summer ; and the 
trees are covered, at all times, with green leaves, fruits, 
and flowers. 

2. In crossing Mexico from east to west, there is first 
a broad plain by the sea-side, covered with immense 
forests. Here grows the tall, beautiful cocoa-palm, 
straight as an arrow, and covered with a crown of long 
green, feathery leaves, under which are the large clus- 



IN THE WARM COUNTRIES OF THE SOUTH 83 



ters of fruit. The mahogany, from the wood of which 
furniture is made, and the banana and other plants 
yielding delicious fruits, are also found here. 

3. By and by we begin to ascend a s]ope, many parts 
of which are so steep and rugged that the roads are 
very narrow, crooked, and often dangerous. Here, too, 
are fine forests, also plantations of cotton, coffee, and 
tobacco. Lovely roses, dahlias, and many other plants 
which we cultivate in our gardens or greenhouses, grow 
here in the fields and forests. 

4. At length we find ourselves on the top of a moun- 
tain-range, which we cross and descend into a basin, or 
plain, surrounded by mountains. This enclosed plain is 
the table-land of Mexico. In the midst of it, is a beauti- 
ful lake, beside which is the famous old city of Mexico. 

5. When the white people first came to America, 
nearly four hundred years ago, they found the lake 
much larger than it now is, and the city on a cluster 
of islands in the midst of the lake. A powerful king, 
named Montezuma, lived here with his people, who 
were called Aztecs. The city was full of their palaces 
and temples, many of which were ornamented with 
figures and vessels of silver and gold, and with wonder- 
ful carvings and paintings. 

6. They had lived for three hundred years in this 
basin, with its high mountains on all sides, shutting 
them in away from the warlike Indians beyond, who 
never thought of doing any thing but to hunt and fight. 
They were thus able to go on in peace, building their 
palaces, temples, bridges, and other great works, some 
of which were very remarkable. 

But what seemed most wonderful to the white stran- 



84 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



gers, was the great number of articles of silver and gold 
in the temples and palaces. These they wanted ; and 
they wished also to know where the silver and gold 
were obtained, so that they might get them for them- 
selves. As the king would not tell them this, they took 
him prisoner, and afterward made war on the city, and 
treated his people very cruelly. 

7. In the war, the city was nearly destroyed ; but 
it was soon rebuilt by the conquerors. They finally 
found the mines which had been worked by the natives ; 
and soon great numbers of white people came there to 
live. But they cared more for the gold and silver than 
for any thing else in Mexico. 

8. Central America, which is farther south, resembles 
Mexico very much, except that it is even warmer. It 
has more rain too ; and the choice trees, fruits, and 
flowers of that country grow still more luxuriantly 
here. 

9. In both Mexico and Central America, there are 
mountains like chimneys, through which melted rock, 
cinders, and vapor come out from the interior of the 
earth. These mountains are called volcanoes. Some- 
times there come out from volcanoes such great quan- 
tities of cinders, that cities and villages near them are 
buried. Sometimes, also, red-hot streams of melted 
rock, called lava, flow down the mountain-side, burning 
up every thing in their way. 

io. At times, noises like thunder are heard within the 
earth ; and the solid land trembles, so that the houses 
are shaken like a boat on the sea, and come tumbling 
down over the heads of the frightened people. This 
trembling of the earth is called an earthquake. Earth- 



72V THE WARM COUNTRIES OF THE SOUTH. 85 



quakes not only happen in Mexico and Central Amer- 
ica, but also in other countries. Sometimes they shake 
down whole cities, and open great chasms in the earth, 
swallowing up both animals and people. 

11. We find that the United States is in the middle of 
a very great body of land, the northern part of which 
is frozen through- 
out the year; while 
the southern part 
has, all the year 
long, one constant 
summer. This vast 
body of land is 
called a continent, 
and the name of it 
is North America. 
Our country, though 
so very large, is 
much less than one- 
half of it. 

12. There are five 
other continents 
upon the earth, two 
of which are much A Volcano - 

larger than North America. Yet we know that there is 
about three times as much water as land on the earth's 
surface. What a great earth it is on which we live, 
and hoAV many beautiful things we have already seen in 
it ! We shall find many more when we go to the other 
continents, as we shall do by and by. 




86 GEOGRAPHICAL BEADEB. 



XXII. -THE WEST INDIES. 
Ha-van'-a. | ve-ran'-da. | ba-na'-na [-a.Ji'-?ia.h] . 

1. These islands lie in the ocean, east of the Gulf of 
Mexico. Four of them are much larger than the others. 
They are covered with rugged mountains, among which 
are broad green valleys where not a flake of snow ever 
falls, nor a particle of ice is formed. 

2. The forests are filled with large trees, that bear 
fresh green leaves, flowers, and fruits throughout the 
year, as in the lowlands of Mexico and Central America. 
The earth beneath the trees is covered with beautiful 
feathery ferns, lovely flowers, and many singular plants. 

3. Suppose you are travelling in the forests, and be- 
come thirsty. You look about for a spring or brook of 
cool, pure water, from which to drink. You may not 
find any, because sometimes no rain falls for several 
months, and the springs and brooks become quite dry. 

4. Here beside you, climbing from tree to tree, is a 
vine, that looks as much like a dead grape-vine as any 
thing can. As high up as you can reach, you cut a 
notch in a branch of it, and lower down you cut the 
branch entirely off. Putting the end to your mouth, 
you suck upon it, and find that it gives you a small 
stream of delicious cool water, which it has drawn up 
from the earth, and stored away to feed the plant in this 
dry time. There are many other plants that thus pro- 
vide water for themselves. What a happy thing to find 
such plants in this warm, and sometimes very dry, 
country ! 



THE WEST INDIES. 



87 



5. In all the large islands, especially in Cuba, are great 
plantations of sugar-cane, coffee, and tobacco. The city 
of Havana, on the northern coast of this island, is the 
greatest sugar-market in the world. 




A Sugar-Plantation. 

6. The sugar-plantations are everywhere much alike. 
In some pleasant part the owner lives in a large, low 
house, with broad verandas on every side, and palm- 
trees shading it. Around it grow clusters of orange- 
trees, bananas, and other fruit-bearing plants. 



88 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



7. Not far away is the great sugar-mill, in which the 
cane is crushed, and its juice pressed out and made 
into sugar and molasses. Near by it stands a large clus- 
ter of little cabins. Each has a banana-plant and a 
small garden beside it ; and groups of naked negro chil- 
dren are seen rolling about in the dust, or lying asleep 
in the sunshine. These are the houses of the negroes, 
who do all the work of raising the cane, and making 
the sugar. 

8. On every side of this little village the vast cane- 
field extends, so that you might ride for miles and still 
find it everywhere the same. You would pass none of 
the small, neat farm-houses you are accustomed to see ; 
but after a time would find another plantation just like 
the last, with its great house, its mill, and its little 
cabins clustered together in the midst of the cane-fields. 

9. The white people on all these islands do but little 
work. They usually stay in their houses through the 
warmest part of the day ; and when the sun goes down 
they go out to ride, make visits, and amuse themselves 
as they choose. 



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OQsyl 


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w% 



SOUTH AMERICA. 



I. -UP THE AMAZON. 
Pa-na-ma' [-mah'~]. | Ma-ra'-jo [-zho]. | Pa-ra' [Pah-rahf]. 

1. Southward from North America is South Amer- 
ica. Like North America, it lies between the Atlantic 
Ocean and the Pacific. These two continents are con- 
nected by a narrow neck of land, named the Isthmus of 
Panama. 

2. In the northern part of South America is an im- 
mense river, the largest in the world. Its source is in 
the far western part of the continent, near the Pacific 
Ocean. It flows eastward more than three thousand 
miles, through a vast, low plain, into the Atlantic. 
This is the Am'a-zon River. 

3. The mouth of the Amazon is so broad as to seem 
like a large lake ; and its great mass of muddy, yellow 
water can be seen for scores of miles at sea, making its 
way through the clear blue ocean. Just at the mouth 
of the river is the large island of Marajo, dividing the 
stream into two branches, — one more than twenty miles 
wide, the other more than fifty. This island is covered 
with pastures and plantations, from which are sent 
cattle, rice, sugar, and fruits. On the banks of the 
Amazon, south of Marajo, is the city of Para. 

89 



90 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



4. Like New Orleans, it is built on the marshy plains 
that border the river, and is surrounded by rice-fields 
and sugar-plantations. It is now only a small place, 
but some day it will undoubtedly become a large 

and busy city ; for 
steamers can go 
from Para up the 
Amazon and its 
great tributaries 
to all parts of the 
interior of South 
America, just as 
they go from New 
Orleans up the 
Mississippi to the 
interior of our 
own country. 

5. After having 
travelled by 
steamer up the 
Amazon, from 
Para, for a day or 
two, all the plan- 
tations disappear, 
and we see along 
the river only im- 
mense marshes. 
The}^ are covered 
with a thick growth of reeds, often much higher than 
a common house. Here and there are open spaces, 
where the water is covered with large, round green 
leaves, that, with their brown edges turning upward, 




On the Amazon. 



UP THE AMAZON. 91 



look like flat-boats. Some of them are as many as six 
feet across ; and, if you were placed in the middle of 
one, you would find it quite strong enough to support 
you on the water. 

6. These are the leaves of the beautiful Victoria Regia, 
a very large kind of water-lily. Floating on the water, 
among these great leaves, are flowers larger than a com- 
mon dinner-plate. The inner petals are of a pretty 
rose-color, and in the centre is a circle of bright gold ; 
while the rest of the flower is snowy white. You can 




Victoria Regia. 

hardly imagine one more beautiful. These, and the 
many other plants growing there, make the marshes of 
the Amazon very wonderful to see. 

7. But among all these pleasant things, there are 
others which you will not like so well. Great scaly 
alligators lie asleep in the sunshine, with their ugly red 
mouths wide open, or float like logs on the surface of 
the water. Thousands of immense water-snakes glide 
about among the reeds. Frogs and turtles larger than 
any you ever saw, and lizards a yard in length, are to 
be seen at every moment ; and the air is filled with the 
hum of brilliant insects whose sting is poisonous. 

8. Here and there long-legged swamp-birds wade 
about, darting their long beaks into the water after 
the frogs and snakes, which they devour ; while whole 



92 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



flocks, which have finished their fishing, stand asleep on 
the shore. The noonday sun, directly over our heads, 
pours down his burning rays, and almost blinds us by 
the dazzling light that is reflected from the water all 
around. 

9. All the morning the whole sky has been perfectly 
clear, and of the brightest blue. Now banks of white 
clouds are piled up here and there. They grow thick 
and dark, and rapidly become larger; and soon the 




An Alligator. 

whole sky is black. The lightning darts in blinding 
flashes from one side of the heavens to the other. Ter- 
rible peals of thunder shake the earth, and the rain 
begins to fall. It is not a light, pattering rain, like 
that of our summer showers ; but it falls in torrents, as 
though the whole sky were one overturned sea pouring 
down upon us. This continues until near night ; then 
the thunder, lightning, and rain cease, the clouds dis- 
appear, and all night the heavens are bright with stars. 
10. Every day for several weeks is just the same; 
only that each day the rain commences a little earlier, 
and ceases later, than the day before, until at length it 
rains all day. Then it begins later and later each day, 
and ceases earlier ; and at last there comes a time during 



IN THE SELVAS. 93 



which, for a number of months, no rain falls. The part 
of the year in which it rains thus each day is called the 
wet season; the other part, the dry season. They are 
nearly alike in heat, for the larger part of South Amer- 
ica has no winter. 



II. -IN THE SELVAS. 

sel'-va [-vah]. I jag-u-ar'. I Ri'-o Ja-nei'-ro [-nee-]. 

bo'-a-con-strict'-or. | Bra-zil'. I va-niT-la [4ah], 

i. Beyond the marshes which border the stream on 
each side, are immense forests, stretching away hun- 
dreds of miles. The trees are not only of great size, 
but they stand so close together that their branches 
are interlocked and form a dense roof of green, through 
which the sun can hardly reach the earth. 

2. The whole space between the trees, and beneath 
their branches, is one mass of reeds and other tall plants. 
Thousands of vines climb about them, stretching from 
tree to tree and hanging down from the branches, thus 
binding all so firmly together that, in some places, not 
even a footpath can be made through the forests with- 
out an axe to cut the way. 

3. The low plants, the vines, and even many of the 
great trees, are covered with the most beautiful flowers, 
not only white, but crimson, purple, scarlet, and golden 
yellow. As there is no winter, the trees are at all times 
growing, blooming, and bearing fruit. On some kinds 
buds, flowers, green fruit, and ripened fruit may be 
found all at the same time. 

4. Living among the branches of the trees, are multi- 



94 



GEOGBAPHICAL HEADER. 



tudes of birds, of such brilliant colors that they seem 
like winged flowers. Numberless monkeys of ever}' 

description, some of 
which are not larger 
than a kitten, chase 
each other from tree 
to tree, swinging by 
their long tails from 
one branch to an- 
other. Great snakes, 
called boa-constrict- 
ors, some of them 
eight or ten yards in 
length, hang from the trees, 
watching for some animal to 
come within their reach, when 
they quickly wind themselves 
round him, and crush him. 

5. Still another terrible crea- 
ture, called the jaguar, makes 
his home in the forests. The 
young ones look like kittens, 
and, playing about the trees, are 
very pretty and harmless ; but 
when grown large they are fierce 
and dangerous. Thousands of 
animals of many other kinds fill 
this great forest, through which 
the rivers are almost the only 
paths, and where few people 
but Indians and adventurous 
travellers have ever been. 




Spider Monkeys. 



IN THE SELVAS. 95 




6. Although there are such vast numbers of birds and 
animals here, the forests, all through the long, warm 
days, are perfectly 
silent. There is not 
a sound of bird or 
beast ; but as soon 
as the night comes 
on their voices are 
everywhere heard. 
The roaring of the A Jaguar - 

fierce and angry jaguar, the screaming of the frightened 
monkeys trying to escape, the chattering of the parrots 
and other birds which have been wakened by the noise, 
make a sort of music that is not very charming, and 
which, I think, would hardly lull one to sleep. 

7. Travellers who may be obliged to spend the night 
in the forests must build fires all about them to keep 
away the jaguars and other dangerous animals. They 
are afraid of the flame, and will not approach it. But 
for this, it would not be safe for any one to go to sleep 
in the forests. These broad plains, through which the 
Amazon and its tributaries flow, are called selvas, which 
means forest-plains. 

8. We steam up the Amazon, day after day, for more 
than a month, and still we find the same level plain 
covered with the same forests. Were we to leave the 
main stream and go up any one of its many large tribu- 
taries, we should find no change ; for the selvas cover 
more than half the continent of South America. 

9. Far away to the west the country through which 
the Amazon flows becomes hilly ; and at length the 
river, now much smaller, descends, in many rapids and 



96 



GEOGRAPHICAL HEADER. 



waterfalls, from a mountainous region. The forests 
begin to be broken, and plantations and villages again 
appear. Here we must leave the river, as steamers can 
go no farther. 

10. The selvas form a large part of a great country 
named Brazil, which is nearly as large as all the other 
countries of South America. But the south-eastern part 

is a table-land, with low 
mountains crossing it in 
every direction. In these 
mountains, and among the 
pebbles of the streams that 
flow from them, gold and 
diamonds are found. 

11. The whole eastern part 
of Brazil is covered with 
coffee -plantations, orange- 
groves, and gardens of ba- 
nanas and pine-apples. 
These, with cotton, tobacco, 
rice, and other things which 
grow in the warm parts of 
our own country, may be 
raised in all the rich val- 
picking coffee. leys. There is also growing 

here a vine that bears a fruit like a bean, from which 
a delicious perfume is obtained. This is the vanilla. 
Many of you have seen either the vanilla-bean, or an 
extract made from it, which is used in flavoring custards 
and creams. 

12. But there are not yet half enough white people in 
Brazil to cultivate all its rich land. Almost the only 




ACROSS THE ANDES. 97 



inhabitants of the interior are Indians, who live npon 
the fruits of the forest, and the missionaries who are 
trying to teach them. 

13. On the coast is the large city of Bio Janeiro. Its 
streets are shaded by palms and other beautiful trees. 
In some places the handsome buildings, of which there 
are many, are almost hidden by the green leaves. The 
air, too, is always delightful, much like that of Los 
Angeles, in California. 

14. The city is built by the side of a broad blue bay, 
clotted with lovely islands; and behind it rise green 
hills, and high, forest-covered mountains. These hills 
are topped with pleasant country-houses half hidden by 
trees ; and the rich valleys between them are covered 
with fields of coffee, cotton, sugar, and delicious pine- 
apples. You can hardly imagine a place more pleasant 
than Rio Janeiro, with the fine country round it. 



III. -ACROSS THE ANDES. 
An'-des [-deez]. | lla'-ma [Mi' -ma]. | ca-ca'-o [ka-ka'-]. 

i. The mountains from which the Amazon flows, and 
at the foot of which the steamers stop, are the Andes. 
They are very high, and form a continuous elevation 
along the western coast, from the northern point of 
South America to the southern. Nowhere can we go 
from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific without crossing 
the Andes. 

2. We left the Amazon just at the foot of t}ie moun- 
tains. We must continue our journey on the back of 



98 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



a mule, for there are no good roads over the Andes. 
Their slopes are so rough and broken, that it is very 
difficult and dangerous to travel across them. Some- 
times the way lies along the edge of a precipice, where 
the path is only wide enough for the mule to walk. A 




Among the Andes. 

single wrong step would throw us down hundreds of 
feet, and we should be dashed in pieces. 

3. In other places, we pass through deep gorges, with 
perpendicular rocks on each side, rising far above ; and 
we are continually in danger of being crushed by fall- 
ing pieces. Foaming mountain streams at the bottom 



ACEOSS THE ANDES. 99 



of deep ravines must be crossed, not on solid stone 
bridges, but on slender, swinging cords, covered only 
with branches of trees, ready to break at any moment, 
and plunge us into the terrible chasm below. 

4. On the lower parts of the slope, are dense forests, 
like those of the selvas, with the same kinds of trees 
and animals. Farther up the mountain we find no more 
tall palm-trees, nor trees covered with brilliant flowers ; 
but instead, maples, oaks, and beautiful elms, such as 
we see in our own country. 

5. At the foot of the Andes the whole year is one 
long, warm summer. Higher up, it is like perpetual 
spring. The sunny blue sky is always smiling ; and the 
pleasant valleys among the mountains are filled with 
grain fields, green pastures, and pretty villages. 

6. Still higher we reach a cold country, with but a 
few stunted trees, somewhat like those growing near the 
Arctic shores of North America. Now we are at the 
top of the great wall of the Andes ; and here, spread 
out before us, is a bare, rocky plain, cold, gray, and 
very dreary. Only a few dwarfed shrubs, grasses, and 
other poor, starved-looking plants, cover the earth. 
Away in the distance, against the dark-blue sky, rising 
far above us, are cone-shaped peaks, covered nearly from 
top to bottom with mantles of snow, and shining in the 
sunlight like silver mountains. Many of these are vol- 
canoes, and they are all very high. 

7. Here and there, all over this dreary plain, are little 
villages, with herds of llamas feeding on the scanty pas- 
tures. The llamas are natives of these cold heights, 
and were once found wild in great numbers. They 
have been tamed, and are now used by the people of 



100 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



the Andes to carry goods up and down the dangerous 
slopes. They are very useful; because, though quite 
small and slow, they are gentle. They are also per- 
fectly sure-footed, never stumbling nor slipping on the 
most difficult mountain paths, where hardly any other 
animal can travel. 

8. After we have crossed the summit of this great 
range, we descend into a beautiful valley, beyond which 
is another range, as high and as rugged as the first one. 
In this valley, with the high mountain-walls and the 
snowy volcanoes shutting it in on every side, we find 
again constant spring. The earth is adorned with for- 
ests, grain-fields, orchards, and gardens, in the midst of 
which are bright rivers, blue lakes, villages, and great 
cities. 

9. Here, long ago, lived a people resembling those 
who built cities on the table-land of Mexico. All the 
inner valleys of the Andes were full of their cities and 
temples, rich in gold and silver ; while broad, fine roads 
led from one valley to another. These cities, like those 
of Mexico, were finally found by the white men. The 
people were conquered, and their noble works destroyed 
by the conquerors, who cared only for their gold and 
silver. Finally the mines were discovered, and the 
cities were rebuilt by the new inhabitants. 

io. Among the trees of these valleys, is a beautiful one 
called the cacao. It is somewhat like the cherry-tree in 
size and form, and bears a fruit containing a number of 
oily kernels. From these kernels is prepared the deli- 
cious chocolate, so much used upon our tables. 

li. Another tree, very precious to the people, grows 
in some of the warmest of the valleys. It is the cow- 



ACROSS THE ANDES. 



101 



tree. When the bark is cut, there flows out from it an 
abundant juice, white and a little gummy, with a very 
pleasant taste and smell. It flows most freely about 
sunrise. Then you may see Indians and negroes coming 
from all directions to the trees, with large vases or jugs 
which they fill with this sort of milk. They are very 
fond of it, and it makes a nutritious food. 

12. The highest of the inner valleys are cold and 
dreary, like the plains 
on the summit of the 
range; but even some 
of these have mining 
cities, and the food for 
the thousands of people 
who live and work there 
is nearly all brought by 
the llamas from the 
warm, fruitful valleys 
below. 

13. Here and there, 
perched on the high- 
est rocks, is the condor, the largest bird that flies. It 
is often very troublesome to the people of the high 
valleys, carrying away their lambs and kids, and some- 
times even their little children. 

14. The second range is just as difficult to cross as 
the first one. Descending it to the foot of the moun- 
tains, we find again the rich forests, growing, blooming, 
and bearing fruit in the long summer, which lasts all 
the year. And 'now we come at once to the shore of 
the great Pacific ; for the Andes lie close along the 
western border of the continent. 




A Condor. 



102 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



IV. -ON THE LLANOS, 
lla'-nos [Vya'-noz]. | las'-so. | O-ri-no'-co. 

1. North of the Amazon is another great river, also 
flowing from a mountain country through a vast plain, 
north-eastward, into the Atlantic. This is the Orinoco. 
The plains of the Orinoco, like those of the Amazon, are 
quite level. Nowhere can a hill of any size be seen, but 
here and there a sort of table of naked rock rises up 
above the level surface of the ground. 

2. Along the banks of the river, and on the rocky 
islands in the midst of it, are dense forests, like those 
which border the Amazon ; but elsewhere, all over the 
great plain, not a tree can be seen. These treeless 
plains are called llanos, meaning open plains. 

3. Through the llanos, at the end of the dry season, 
the river winds between low, flat banks, everywhere 
fringed with narrow bands of green forests or grasses. 
All the vast plain beside is dead and desolate. The 
earth is black and dry ; and the hot sun pours down 
upon it, without even a cloud between to shield it from 
the burning rays. 

4. Now the rains begin. Torrents of water fall; and 
in a few days the river fills up, and overflows its banks. 
Grass and flowers spring up all over the plains ; and 
in a short time the wide llanos are carpeted with green, 
dotted with gold, crimson, purple, and every brilliant 
color. 

5. Herds of wild horses and cattle pasture upon the 
rich grass, which is soon tall enough to hide them from 



ON THE LLANOS. 



103 



view ; or clash over the plains, pursued by swift riders, 
who catch them with a long rope fastened firmly to the 
saddle. This rope is called a lasso. It is wound into a 
ring, or coil, and held in the right hand ; and, when the 
rider is near enough to the animal he wishes to catch, 
he throws it with all his might. He is so skilful, that, 




Lassoing Cattle. 

as the coil unwinds, a noose at its end is sure to fall 
around the horns or head of the animal, so that it can- 
not possibly escape him. Now the strong, brave horse 
holds himself firmly braced, and lets the poor beast pull 
at the lasso until it is tired out, when it is drawn up 
and secured. 

6. The air is filled with insects; and the moist earth 
swarms with snakes, lizards, frogs, and turtles. Great 



104 GEOGRAPHICAL BEADEB. 



alligators watch by the river-side for the animals that 
come down to drink ; and the jaguar, from the forest, 
comes here to prey upon the herds which feed on these 
rich pastures. 

7. By and by the rainy season is over, and the sun 
pours down again its burning heat. After a few weeks, 
the river shrinks away to its former size, all the little 
pools and streams that were formed over the plain are 
gone. At length the earth is dry and hard, and cracked 
in every direction ; and the beautiful green grass has 
become yellow and dried everywhere, except close along 
the borders of the river. The dry, hot wind raises thick 
clouds of dust, and makes the air seem warmer instead 
of cooler. The red, dazzling sunlight nearly blinds you, 
and the heat makes you weak and sick. 

8. Now you do not see any frogs nor snakes ; for they 
know when the dry season is coming, and bury them- 
selves in the earth, to sleep until it is past, just as they 
do in our country during the winter. They do not like- 
the very dry, hot weather any better than they do the 
cold. The swarms of insects are all dead; and the 
horses and the cattle are driven away to pastures near 
the mountains, for they would die without water. The 
whole plain is deserted and silent. 

9. The herdsmen set fire to the dried grass in order 
to clear the ground for a new growth. Now the whole 
great plain, for hundreds of miles, is swept by the 
flames, every thing is destroyed, and the earth is left 
black and bare, as we first saw it. This is one reason 
why no trees grow here. Every little one which may 
start during the wet season from seed scattered over the 
ground is killed by the drought and the fires each year. 



UP THE LA PLATA. 105 



UP THE LA PLATA. 



La Pla'-ta I Pa-ra-na' 

[lah-plah'-tah]. i [pah-rah-nah']. 

pam'-pas. I Gran Cha'-co [chah'-]. 



Gau'-cho 

[goiv'-cho], 
gal'-lop-ing [-hip-]. 



1. South of the Amazon is still another large river. 
Like the Mississippi, it gathers its waters from the 
mountain-lands east and west of it, and flows southward 
through a great plain. Near the mouth it is called the 
La Plata; but the long stream above is named the 
Parana. 

2. The plains of the La Plata, called pampas, are not 
like those of the Mississippi, nor yet like the selvas nor 
the llanos. There are no great forests, nor rich prairies ; 
but, instead, the ground is covered during the wet sea- 
son with coarse grass growing two or three yards high, 
mixed with clover and thistles even higher. They are 
so large that they seem like young trees, more than like 
the plants of the same kind which we are accustomed 
to see. 

3. In some places, are great forests of these tall, 
strong thistles, so dense that it is impossible to pass 
through them, except by the paths made by the herds 
of wild horses and cattle that feed upon the pampas. 
It is very dangerous to travel through these thickets ; 
for robbers hide themselves beside the paths, and kill 
and rob those who come within their reach. For this 
reason there is little travelling across the pampas, ex- 
cept during the dry season, when the thistles are dead 
and burned, like the grasses of the llanos. 



106 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



4. The inhabitants of the pampas are either Indians 
or a race of half-breeds, called Gauchos. The Gauchos 
are a half-wild people, spending almost their whole time 
on horseback, and riding the swiftest and wildest horses 
easily and safely. They sleep upon the ground, with 
only their mantles to cover them, and are very proud of 

their wild, free life. 
They fear nothing 
but the jaguar and 
the Indians, and 
even of these they 
are not much afraid. 
The little boys, when 
not more than four 
years old, ride per- 
fectly well. They 
are able to help 
their fathers drive 
the herds from 
place to place for 
fresh pastures, and 
soon begin them- 
selves to catch and tame the fleet wild horses. 

5. There were not always wild horses and cattle on 
the llanos and pampas. Before the white people came, 
these plains were covered with native animals, as thickly 
as the selvas now are. The white people brought the 
first horses and cattle with them from Europe ; and 
they have increased in numbers so fast as to drive 
away from these rich pastures nearly all the native 
animals that once fed upon them. 

6. Farther up the river, the pampas disappear ; and 




A Gaucho and an Ind 



UP THE LA PLATA. 



107 



the plains through which the Parana flows are rich 
prairies, with timber along the streams. Here and there 
over the prairies, are low round hills covered with trees, 
looking like islands in the great sea of grass. 

7. Toward the sources of the river, the woodlands in- 
crease, and there is 
only here and there 
a little, bright prairie 
smiling among their 
darker green. This 
is the Gran Chaco, or 
great hunting-ground 
of the Indians; and 
they can be seen on 
their fleet horses, gal- 
loping over the prai- 
ries, gathering them- 
selves together on the 
banks of the river, 
ready for the chase. 
They and the wild 
beasts of the forest 
alone have possession 
of these rich plains. 

8. One day we shall 
see these streams bordered with cities, and covered with 
swift steamers bearing away the cotton, the coffee, and 
the sugar, which will then be growing where now are 
only forests and wild prairies. You know that it is not 
a great while since the cotton-plantations and grain- 
farms along the Mississippi were wild forests and prai- 
ries, with the Indians for their only inhabitants. 




The Gran Chaco. 



THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 



LIFE ON AND IN THE OCEAN. 
New'-found-land [-fund']. | con'-ti-nent. | har-poon'. 

1. East of North and South America, you remember, 
is the Atlantic Ocean. Beyond the ocean, are two other 
continents, — Europe, which is opposite us ; and Africa, 
opposite Mexico and South America. The northern 
end of the Atlantic joins the frozen ocean of the north, 
on the shores of which the Esquimaux live; and the 
southern end joins another frozen ocean beyond South 
America. You see that those parts of it must be very 
cold ; but the middle is warm, like the lands beside it. 

2. In every part of this ocean, are ships going to 
and fro between the continents that border it, carrying 
goods and people from one country to another. Great 
steamers, also, built on purpose to carry travellers, are 
constantly plying between our large sea-ports, like New 
York and Boston, and the ports of Europe. They go 
as fast as possible all the time, — day and night; but 
the ocean is so very broad, that they are eight or ten 
days in crossing it. 

3. Before people began to build steamers, it took 
much longer to cross the Atlantic. The ships go only 
about half as fast as the steamers ; and if there is bad 

108 



LIFE ON AND IN THE OCEAN. 



109 



weather, they may be hindered so as to take a month or 
more for the voyage. In a calm, the great ships drift 
lazily, with their broad, drooping sails bathed in sun- 
light ; but the steamers dash along at their usual rate, 
pouring into the air clouds of black smoke, and raising 
a great foam and flurry along their path. 




An Ocean Steamer leaving Port. 

4. Sometimes both ships and steamers set out with 
every thing fair, and are never heard of afterward. 
Some take fire and are burned in mid-ocean ; others 
spring a leak and sink. Others still are driven by storms 
far out of their course, and injured so that they cannot 
get back. Then they may drift about for days, and 
finally sink, without ever being seen. 



110 GEOGRAPHICAL HEADER. 



5. In crossing the Atlantic, we are for many days 
far from the sight of any land. All around us, is the 
great world of water, stretching away to the horizon, 
with perhaps not even a ship in view. The sun seems 
to come up out of the sea in the morning, and to sink 
into it at night. You would almost believe the ocean 
to be the whole world, and the people in the ship the 
only ones on its surface. 

6. But the sea is full of life. In some places, are miles 
and miles of sea-weed growing on the top of the water ; 
in others, are immense schools of dolphins swimming for 
days beside the ship, sometimes darting almost out of 
the water, and making graceful curving lines at every 
motion. Timid little flying-fish leap out into the air 
when they want to escape an enemy. Great flocks of 
sea-birds sail about on the wing, or dive into the sea 
after fish, or float on the surface to rest. 

7. But the most wonderful thing to see is the ocean 
itself, on a quiet night. Sometimes the ship leaves a 
path of light behind it, on the broad dark waters ; and 
every little creature that plays on the surface is sur- 
rounded by a circle of light, making the ocean very 
beautiful. You see there are many things that even 
children can learn about the great ocean ; but there are 
very many other things for you to learn by and by. 

8. Besides the ships that transport passengers and 
goods, there are others which take men away to the 
cold parts of the ocean, to catch the whale. When 
a whale is seen, some of the sailors get into a small, 
strong boat, and row toward it. Fastened to the boat, 
are long, stout ropes, with sharp spears, called harpoons^ 
attached to the ends. When the boat has come near 



LIFE ON AND IN THE OCEAN. Ill 



enough, the master stands up, and throws a harpoon 
with all his force, and fixes it in the body of the whale. 

9. He plunges clown deep into the water, and the 
boatmen let the rope out longer and longer, so that the 
boat will not be drawn down too. They know he can- 




Whale- Fishing. 

not stay under long, for he must come to the top to 
breathe. The master has another harpoon ready to 
strike him again when he comes up, and soon he is 
killed. But sometimes the angry whale strikes the boat, 
and breaks it in pieces ; and then, if another boat were 
not by to help them, all the sailors would be drowned. 



112 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



10. The body of the whale is now brought alongside 
the vessel, and fastened to it, so that it cannot float 
away. The men stand on the back, and cut off the fat, 
which is boiled in great kettles in order to get the oil. 
This is put into barrels to be carried home. The ship 
stays in the whale-fields until it obtains a full cargo of 
oil, so the sailors are sometimes gone for three years. 

11. There are vessels engaged in other kinds of fishery, 
in parts of the Atlantic. Opposite the mouth of the 
St. Lawrence, is a large island, called Newfoundland. 
Around this island, the sea is thronged with fine fish ; 
and hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of vessels, are 
occupied there during the season for fishing. The 
waters all along the coasts abound in excellent fish, and 
great numbers of little fishing-vessels are flitting here 
and there in pursuit of them. 




EUROPE, 



L- ENGLAND. -THE COUNTRY. 
Eng'-land [Ing'-land]. | Ire'-land. | Scot'-land. 

1. Near the coast of Europe, in the Atlantic Ocean, 
are two great islands, named Great Britain and Ireland. 
Great Britain was once divided into three separate 
countries, — England, Scotland, and Wales. They are 
now all united in one, though people still use these 
names for the different parts of the island. 

2. England is a lovely country. Wherever you go, 
you will find the pretty, neat farms separated by 
hedges instead of fences. There are hedges, too, skirt- 
ing the roadsides and lanes; and the fields are fresh 
and green, as though the whole country were a carefully 
tended garden. Here and there, is a great house or 
castle, very large, old, and strong, though not always 
very attractive. In it live the rich people who own all 
the land for several miles around it. Their fathers and 
grandfathers have lived there before them, not quite 
ever since the world began, but for a very, very long 
time ; and, therefore, they are fond and proud of their 
great old castles. 

3. Around the castle, are beautiful parks, with fine 
large trees shading them, — elms and oaks and beeches, 

113 



114 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



so old that nobody can tell when they were planted ; 
and the grass is so thick and soft that your feet are 
almost buried in it while walking. In the parks, are 
pretty gray deer, with timid little fawns keeping close 
beside their mothers, and almost afraid to be looked at. 
There are, also, rabbits, hares, partridges, and many 




Windsor Castle. 

other kinds of animals and birds, which make the parks 
pleasant. 

4. Near the castle, is often a village of neat white 
cottages, with its church, its school-house, and its shops. 
Around the village, are fields of golden wheat waving 
in the summer sunshine, and green pastures full of 
sheep and cows, quietly cropping the grass or dozing in 



ENGLAND. — THE COUNTRY. 115 



the shade. There are meadows, too, where the farmers 
are piling the fragrant new-mown hay on the great 
carts ; while boys and girls follow the load with their 
rakes to gather up every bit that falls. 

5. Haymaking and harvest are merry times in Eng- 
land for both young and old : but I think you would 
like the spring best, when the hedges are white with 
flowers ; when the orchards are rosy, and there are so 
many little singing birds that you almost believe every 
blossom has a voice. 

6. There are such green fields, neat hedges, old cas- 
tles, and pretty villages, all over England ; but there 
are many people in England who never see any of them, 
— many children who never see the lambs skip in the 
pastures, never hear the birds sing, never rake hay in 
the meadows, nor gather flowers from the hedges and 
the pastures in spring-time. 

7. There are mountains in England, not very high 
ones, it is true, not even so high as the Appalachians ; 
but they are very important, because they are full of 
iron, coal, copper, tin, and other valuable minerals. To 
get these things from the earth, somebody must go 
away out of the sunshine, out of sight of the green 
fields, out of hearing of the pretty singing-birds, and 
live and work down deep within the earth, where the 
sun never shines, and no sound is ever heard but the 
voices and hammers of the miners, and the creaking of 
their machinery. There they stay all the time, working 
under the ground, sometimes not seeing the sunlight 
even for a whole year. 

8. Do you suppose you, or any child, would like to 
live in such a place? Yet there are many children 



116 GEOGRAPHICAL HEADER. 



who live there year after year, working in the mines 
with their fathers and brothers. There are not many 
things which they are strong enough to do ; but they 
open and shut the gates between different parts of the 
mine, when the loads of ore are passing, and do other 
things of that kind, for which they do not need to be 
very strong. When they go up out of the mine, they 
must all, men and children, get into a kind of basket, 
and be drawn up, very much as you draw water out of 
a well in a bucket. 



II. -THE CITIES IN ENGLAND. 
Thames [Temz]. | Lon'-don [Lun'-duri]. | Man'-ches-ter. 

i. There are large cities in England, where very 
many people live, and buy and sell goods, or work in 
factories and mills of different kinds. One of these, 
named London, is the largest city in the world. You 
might start from one side of it early in the morning, 
and walk all day, passing nothing but houses and shops 
and churches and other buildings, and yet you would 
hardly reach the other end of it before night. 

2. This great city is built on both sides of the River 
Thames, not very far from the sea-shore. There is often 
much fog in the air, from the river and the sea. It is 
not a light, thin fog, such as you may see on a sum- 
mer morning above the little brooks and ponds in the 
country ; but the smoke from the ten thousand chim- 
neys of this great city mingles with it, and makes it 
almost black. Sometimes it is so dark that the people 
are obliged to light lamps in their houses and in the 



THE CITIES IN ENGLAND. 



117 



streets in the middle of the day. Even then they may 
lose their way in going from their shops to their homes, 
because they cannot see enough to know through what 
streets they are passing. 

3. Many fine bridges cross the Thames, binding the 




London and the Thames River. 



parts of the city together ; and, besides these, there is 
a passage, or tunnel, under the river, from one side of 
it to the other. There are thousands of ships all the 
time upon the stream. Some are coming into the city 
from all parts of the world, with food, clothing, and 
many other things for the multitudes of people who live 
there. Others are going out, loaded with articles to 
be sold in distant countries. 



118 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



4. Besides the great ships and steamers, little steam- 
boats are constantly moving up and down the river, 
like stages, to take passengers from one part of the long 
city to another; while others carry people back and 
forth, across the stream. Along its banks, are great 
warehouses for storing goods, and miles of wharves and 
docks, to furnish room for loading and unloading the 
vessels. 

5. In other parts of the city, are large, beautiful parks. 
One, which is very fine, has the Queen's palace looking 
down upon it. There are many splendid palaces, many 
grand old churches, and famous public buildings, that 
you would like to see. 

6. Manchester is another great city of England, though 
it is not nearly so large as London. You will see here 
thousands of cotton-factories, with great smoking chim- 
neys. The whole city is filled with them ; and almost 
all the people work in them or have something to 
do with them. Even children, no larger than many of 
you are, go early in the morning and work all day in 
the hot, close rooms, where they are half deafened by 
the rattling machinery. Don't you think they must get 
very tired ? These mills make the beautiful calicoes and 
muslins which are used all over England, and are also 
packed in boxes, and sent by ship-loads to all parts of 
the world. 

7. Liverpool, also, is an important city. It is near 
Manchester, on the sea-shore, and is the place to which 
the ships bring the cotton for the mills, and the food 
for the people who work in them ; for Manchester is 
not on the sea-shore. Most of the cotton, and a large 
part of the grain, are sent from our country. There is 



SCOTLAND AND IRELAND. 119 



a railroad from Liverpool to Manchester, by which these 
things are sent back and forth between them. There 
are very many other cities in England about which you 
will like to learn at another time ; and there are so many 
railroads, that the whole country seems covered with a 
network of iron bands. 



III. -SCOTLAND AND IRELAND. 
High'-land-ers. | Ed'-in-burgh. [-bur-ruh]. | Em'-er-ald. 

i. Scotland is not much like England, but is full of 
hills and rugged mountains. Some of them have high, 
steep slopes, with bare, black rocks, and, in many places, 
terrible precipices, which make travelling dangerous. 
Some of these mountains are covered with thick forests 
of pines and fir-trees. In the winter they are loaded 
with snow, and look very beautiful. 

2. On the lower mountains and hills, are many green 
pastures ; and all summer you will see them covered 
with flocks of sheep, for most of the people in these 
mountain lands are shepherds. Boys and girls, and 
sometimes men, stay with their flocks all day, to watch 
them, and keep them from getting lost in the forest. 

3. To help them guard the sheep, the shepherds have 
fine dogs, that seem to know almost as much as some 
people. When a sheep is lost, the shepherd's dog will 
be sure to find where it has gone ; and, if he sees one 
going too far away from the flock, he will run after it, 
and drive it back. At night the flocks are driven into 
a fold, and the dogs alone guard them. 



120 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



4. Among these mountains, there are many streams 
with fine waterfalls, and many beautiful, clear mountain 
lakes, like those in New England. In the forests, deer 
abound; and the Highlanders, as the people of the 
mountain country are called, are very fond of hunting 
them. 

5. Scotland is quite a cold country, and has a great 
deal of rainy weather. 
One rainy day a trav- 
eller asked a Scotch- 
man if it rained so all 
the time. "No, sir," 
said he : "sometimes 
it snows." What do 
you think of a coun- 
try in which it rains 
or snows most of the 
time? 

6. Scotland contains 
many cities, but none 
are so large as the great 
cities in England. Ed- 
inburgh is the finest, 
though not the largest. Loch [ Lake l Lomond. 

It is built on hills with narrow valleys between them. 
Some vallej^s, though they have no rivers, have bridges 
across them, to save the trouble of going up and down. 
In crossing these bridges, you see houses and shops un- 
derneath, instead of water. 

7. There is one hill with a fine old castle on the top ; 
and another that has pleasant walks winding around it 
to the summit, and many beautiful statues and build- 




SCOTLAND AND IRELAND. 



121 



ings scattered among trees and flowers. From these 
hills, you can see, not only the country all about, but 
also the ocean. The air is clear and fresh, and not 
filled with fog and smoke as in London. Many of the 
streets are broad and pleasant ; but others are so nar- 
row, that people standing in their doorways can shake 




An Old Castle. 

hands with their neighbors on the other side of the 
street. 

8. Ireland has an abundance of rain, and is a warmer 
country than either England or Scotland. Its plains 
and hills are always fresh and green, and it is often 
called the Emerald Isle. It is the first land of Europe 
reached by the steamers which cross the broad ocean; 
and you can imagine how charming it must look to 
travellers who have seen nothing, during eight or ten 
days, but the blue sky above and the blue sea below. 



122 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



The southern part is full of hills and low mountains, 
and among them are the most beautiful lakes and 
streams. 

9. In many parts of the country, there are places in 
which the moist earth seems to be one mass of little 
roots and dead and decaying plants. These are peat 
bogs. The turf, or peat, when gathered and dried, is 
burned instead of wood. It makes a hot fire, and is 
almost the only fuel of the country people ; for wood 
is very scarce. 



IV. -PRANCE. -THE COUNTRY, 
chest '-nut [ches-]. | peas'-ant [pez-]. | mu-si'-cian [-zish'-an]. 

1. France, on the continent of Europe, is but a 
short distance from Great Britain. The two countries 
are separated by the English Channel, the narrowest 
part of which is the Strait of Dover. 

2. This is a pleasant land, full of broad plains, green 
hills, and fresh valleys ; and in some parts are rugged 
mountains. It is much warmer than England. In the 
north, there is very often foggy and cloudy or rainy 
weather ; but in the south the air is clearer, and the 
sky more sunny. 

3. Still I think that people who travel in France do 
not admire this country so much as England ; for the 
owners of the land do not take the same pains to make 
it beautiful. But you will see in some places what you 
do not see in England. In the warmer parts, there are 
large orchards of fig-trees full of their soft, sweet fruit ; 



FRANCE. — THE COUNTRY. 123 



groves of olive and mulberry trees ; and an abundance 
of peaches, pomegranates, and other excellent fruits, 
which do not grow in England, because it is not warm 
enough. 

4. You will find, in other places, apple, j>ear, and plum 
trees, sometimes growing by the roadside ; fields of wheat 
and other grain, and of beets raised for sugar; and 
flax, with its slender pale-green stalk, and its pretty 
blue flowers, like bright eyes looking up to the sunlight. 
In the forests which grow on the hills and mountains, 
are tall elms, and oaks full of glossy brown acorns, and 
beeches that bear the little three-cornered nuts which all 
children like. 

5. But the best of all the trees for the country people, 
or peasants, who live on these rough lands, is the chest- 
nut. You have all eaten chestnuts, and like them, I 
presume; but what would you think of having only 
roasted chestnuts, and a piece of oatmeal bread, and a 
cup of water, for breakfast, or dinner, or supper ? The 
peasants use chestnuts as a part of their food. These 
grow much larger than the American chestnut; and 
sometimes, were it not for them, many persons would 
starve. 

6. What I think would please you most, is the vine- 
yards, which can be seen- in all the warmer parts of 
France. You would not think them very beautiful ; for 
the vines are planted by the side of wooden stakes, 
hardly higher than your head, above which the main 
stalk is never allowed to grow. The branches extend 
from one stake to another, and form long lines of vines, 
with spaces between them only wide enough to walk in. 

7. But, if you go to the vineyard when the fruit is 



124 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



ripe, you will see, as you walk through the narrow 
paths, large clusters of delicious grapes on each side, 
from the top to the bottom of the vines. They fill the 
air with their delightful fragrance, and if you put them 
in your mouth, you will find their taste even finer than 
their odor ; and you may forget to notice that the vine- 
yard looks not a little like a field of potato-vines. 

8. Now, early in the morning, the boys and girls, and 




Vintage in France. 

men and women, come out from the neighboring villages, 
each with basket in hand, and then what a merry time 
they have ! They laugh and sing, tell funny stories, 
and do all sorts of amusing things while filling their 
baskets, and their mouths too, with the delicious fruit. 
9. Every little while, you will see a strong man carry- 



FRANCE. — THE COUNTRY. 125 



ing on his back a great,* deep basket, fastened to his 
shoulders, and reaching above the top of his head. Into 
this the people who are gathering the grapes, empty 
their smaller baskets. When it is filled, he carries it 
away to the road which runs through the middle, or by 
the side, of the vineyard, and empties his juicy load into 
casks ready to receive it. 

10. By the side of each, is a man having in his hands 
a crusher, like a mallet with a long handle. As fast as 
the grapes are put into the casks, they are pressed, in 
order to break the skins, so that the juice may escape. 
When the casks are all full of the crushed grapes, 
they are driven away to the press. There the juice is 
pressed out, and then stored away, and left to ferment 
and become wine. 

11. All this the merry French people greatly enjoy. 
Sometimes in the evening, after they have been all day 
gathering grapes, the owner of the vineyard employs 
musicians to play for them. They dance until they are 
tired, and then go to their homes and sleep until the 
morning comes to give them another such merry day. 
The vineyards all belong to the rich people, but the 
peasants are very glad to help gather the grapes. 

12. There are very many people in France. For this 
reason there is not much land for each one of the peas- 
ants, and some of them are very poor. They do not eat 
white bread every day, with plenty of meat and butter, 
as our farmers do ; but they have a kind of black bread, 
that is quite heavy and bitter. The most fortunate have 
a chicken, or a piece of pork, on Sunday ; but many 
have meat only once a year, and that on Christmas. 

13. This seems strange to you, and I suppose you 



126 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



think they cannot be very happy. But they are the 
merriest people in the world ; and the little black-eyed, 
black-haired, rosy-cheeked peasant boys and girls, with 
their bare feet, coarse dresses, and brown bread and 
chestnuts, are just as happy as children who have much 
more than they. 



V.- SOME FRENCH CITIES. 



bou'-le-vard [boo'-le-var]. 
Tui'-le-ries [twe'-le-ree]. 
Notre Dame [notr' dam]. 



mu-se-um. 
e-lys'-i-an [-liz'-]. 
Seine [sane]. 



Mar-seills' [sale']. 
Rhone [rone]. 
Med'-i-ter-ra'-ne-an. 



1. France, like England, is full of fine, large cities. 
The largest is Paris, the capital, and one of the most 
magnificent cities in the world. Extending all round 
the inner part of the town, are handsome streets, called 
Boulevards. They have a broad carriage-way in the 
middle, then rows of fine trees, beneath which are side- 
walks as wide as a common street, and as smooth as a 
floor. 

2. Handsome vehicles, drawn by splendid horses, are 
constantly rolling along the carriage-way; while the 
sidewalks are thronged with elegantly dressed people. 
But the Boulevards are gayest in the evening, when the 
shops that border them are all brilliantly lighted, and 
the display of carriages and merry people is even greater 
than during the day. 

3. In these shops, and others all over Paris, you will 
find all sorts of most beautiful goods. There are silks, 
laces, muslins, bonnets, and shawls, and handsome cloths 
of all kinds for ladies' and gentlemen's clothing. There 



SOME FRENCH CITIES. 127 



are shops full of elegant jewelry, and others where all 
sorts of ornaments for parlors are kept. The toy-shops 
are a wonder, containing almost every thing that any 
boy or girl could desire. It would take a long time 
to name even a small part of the toys ; but think of 
those you admire and wish for most, and you may be 
sure that they can be found in the shops of Paris. 

4. Here, also, are spacious gardens, in which are groves 
of trees, and clusters of bright flowers, with numerous 
monuments scattered among them, and fountains cool- 
ing the air. Pleasant walks and broad carriage-ways 
wind among the trees and flowers; and neat benches 
are placed in the most beautiful spots, where people 
may sit with their friends, and enjoy the charming 
scenes. These gardens are always filled with merry 
people, riding, walking, or resting; and, when lighted 
in the evening, they are very gay places. 

5. In the Elysian Fields, and in the G-ardens of the 
Tuileries, you may always find a throng of children 
with their nurses. Here are kept pretty little carriages, 
drawn by goats, in which the children may ride about 
if they like ; and, as you may suppose, they find it de- 
lightful to do so. There are also halls, or galleries, 
filled with rare and beautiful paintings and statues; 
and museums of curious things that have been collected 
from all parts of the world. There is one place, called 
the Garden of Plants, in which is a collection of living 
plants and animals, from all countries. 

6. Paris is built on both sides of the River Seine, and, 
like London, has many bridges, some of which are very 
handsome. It is adorned with arches and columns, 
erected by the different kings and emperors who have 



128 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



ruled over France, in honor of their brave and wise 
men, or of the victories which their armies have gained. 
There are, also, many famous churches and palaces. 
You will often hear of the Notre Dame, one of the finest 
churches, and of the Tuileries, which was once the em- 
peror's palace. 

7. Another of the cities of France is celebrated far 




The Elysian Fields. 

and wide, on account of the elegant silk goods which 
are made there. This is Ly'on. Almost half the peo- 
ple of the city are workers in silk. These silk-makers 
do not work constantly in great factories full of ma- 
chinery, as do the people who make cotton goods in 
Manchester. They have little machines in their own 
houses ; and, hiring two or three other people to help 



SOME FRENCH CITIES. 129 



them, they weave the beautiful pieces of silk, ribbon, or 
velvet, when ordered by the silk-merchants. 

8. Sometimes they have nothing to do for a long 
while, and suffer much, because this is their only way 
of getting money. They all live in one part of the city, 
on a hill between the two rivers on the banks of which 
Lyon is built. The largest of these is the Rhone, of 
which you will learn more another time. 

9. The hills that slope up from the river-banks are 
covered with tall, beautiful buildings shaded with fine 
trees, and are ornamented with many noble monuments. 
This makes the city look very pleasant ; but, if you go 
about, you will not like it so well. The streets are 
narrow and disagreeable ; and by the side of magnifi- 
cent structures, you will often find ruinous old houses, 
and dust and dirt so thick that you can hardly bear to 
walk about. 

io. The streets that lead up the hill-sides are very 
crooked, and sometimes so steep that it has been neces- 
sary to make stairways in some places. But, after you 
are upon the top of the highest hill, you will feel well 
repaid for the hard walk you have had. From this 
hill-top you can see the whole city, with the two rivers 
gliding like silver bands among its beautiful buildings ; 
the green valley of the Rhone, with the great plain at 
the west of it ; and even, far away to the east, the high 
Alps, looking like masses of purple clouds. 

li. Marseille is another fine city. It is on the coast of 
the Mediterranean Sea, — an arm of the Atlantic which 
separates Europe from Africa. This is a much warmer 
place than Paris or Lyon, and has much less rain. It is 
in that part of France which has the bright, sunny sky, 



130 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



where the grapes grow so rich and sweet. The city is 
built around a little bay, and has a fine harbor, where 
you may see ships from all parts of the world, and hear 
many different languages spoken. 

12. One part is called the Old City. In this the streets 
are narrow, and the houses are high and old and dark. 
The other part, called the New GHty, has straight, broad 
streets, with fine houses and numerous shops, like those 
of Paris. One street has many beautiful fountains, 
supplied with water, brought in a canal from the hills 
many miles away. 

13. The country around Marseille, is not all beautiful 
like that around Lyon. In some places it is very dry, 
and you can hardly see a green leaf or a blade of grass. 
The houses have nothing to make it pleasant about 
them but the sea- view. This is so charming, with the 
blue and quiet waters dotted with green islands, and 
the clear, sunny sky overhead, that it makes one almost 
forget how dreary it is on the land. But other parts 
have no need of a view of the sea to make them pleas- 
ing; for there are green valleys filled with vineyards, 
and groves of olive, orange, and mulberry trees. 

14. These are not all of the fine cities iu France. 
There are others in the interior as remarkable for 
cotton-mills, linen-factories, and iron-works as Lyon for 
its silk-looms ; and still others on the coast, which are 
famous as markets for wine, brandy, and fruits, or for 
the elegant manufactures of the country. But, after all, 
France is not nearly so crowded as Great Britain; for, 
though more than twice as large, it has not so many 
great cities ; and Paris itself is but little more than half 
the size of London. 



HOLLAND, BELGIUM, THE NORTH COUNTRIES. 131 



VI. -HOLLAND, BELGIUM, AND THE NORTH 
COUNTRIES. 



Hol'-land. 
Bel'-gium [-ji-um]. 



Am'-ster-dam. 
Swe'-den. 



Den'-mark. 
Nor-we'-gi-an [-j?-]. 



i. Holland, a small but very interesting country, 
lies in the low plains about the mouth of the Rhine. 
The ground is so low and flat, that it is hard work to 
keep the sea from overflowing, and covering it entirely. 
There are many lakes and marshes aloug the shore. 




Winter in Holland. 



The people build, around these, banks of earth, called 
dikes, to keep out the sea, then pump the water from 
them until they are dry, and so change them into rich 
meadows. 



132 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



2. Canals run all through the country, to drain away 
the water ; and in summer you will see the people 
moving about in little boats, instead of going in car- 
riages, by roads, as in other countries.- In winter the 
canals all freeze over, and then are covered with 
skaters. The farmers' wives skate to market, with 
their baskets of butter or other things on their heads. 
The men in the villages and cities skate to their places 
of business, and the children skate to school. 

3. The Hollanders are called Dutch, and it was from 

this country that the peo- 
ple came who first settled 
New York. They are very 
industrious, and nowhere 
in the world will you find 
better farmers than they. 
The rich meadows are full 
of fine sleek cows, from the 
milk of which excellent 
butter and cheese are made. 
The Dutch are great fisher- 
men too. They catch her- 
ring in the sea between 

England and Holland, but go to distant parts of the 
ocean for the cod and the whale. 

4. Amsterdam is a city of Holland. It is full of canals 
instead of streets ; and the ships which bring goods to 
the merchants can sail to the doors of the shops to be 
unloaded. 

5. Belgium lies between Holland and France, on the 
sea-shore opposite England. It is much like Holland, 
but not so flat nor so damp. It is more densely peopled 




Dutch Windmill. 



HOLLAND, BELGIUM, THE NORTH COUNTRIES. 133 



than any other country in Europe. The land is divided 
into little farms not larger than a common field in one 
of the farms of our country. But the soil is so fertile, 
and the farmer is so very industrious, that, small as his 
lot seems to us, he is able to get a living from it. 

6. He sows wheat in one corner, and rye in another, 
some clover for the cows in one part, and some flax, to 
make linen for clothing, in still another. The cows are 
kept in a stable, and the children must gather weeds 
and grass to feed them. Besides, there is a pig, and 
some hens, and sometimes a goat, to be taken care of; 
and the house to be kept clean, and the flax to be spun. 
Thus, you see, there is enough for all to do. 

7. Denmark, Sweden, and Norway are coast 
countries, lying farther to the north. The first two are 
low, like Holland and Belgium, but are much colder. 
Norway is a high, rugged, mountainous country, and is 
very cold. The tops of the mountains are covered with 
snow, from which great masses of ice creep down to 
the valleys, sometimes reaching even to the sea-shore. 
Here they are often broken ; and the end, falling into 
the sea, forms an iceberg, which goes floating away 
toward the warmer parts of the ocean until it melts 
and disappears. 

8. On the lower slopes of the mountains, are tall, 
dense forests of pines and fir-trees. Rich ores of iron, 
also, abound. The coasts are thronged with wild ducks 
and geese and other water-fowl, and the sea is filled 
with excellent fish. The hardy farm products also 
thrive in all the warmer portions. 

9. Many of the Norwegians work in the forests, cut- 
ting down the tall, straight trees, which they send away 



134 



GEOGRAPHICAL BE A DEB. 



to Denmark, Germany, and even to England and 
France, to be used for masts of vessels. Great numbers 
work in the mines, or catch fish along the coast ; and 
many, also, are shepherds. 

10. In summer the cattle and sheep are driven away 
to the mountain pastures, where they are taken care of 




Coast of Norway. 

by children and by the old people, while the strong men 
are busy in the forests, the mines, or the fisheries. The 
Lapps, in the northern part of Sweden and Norway, 
having tamed the reindeer, obtain almost their whole 
living from it. They feed upon its milk and flesh, make 
their clothing and tents of its skin, and train it to draw 
their sledges from place to place in winter. 



SPAIN. 135 



VII. -SPAIN. 

Mad-rid'. j Pyr'-e-nees. Pa'-los. 

Me-ri'-no [-ree-]. ' Port'-u -gal [-00-]. | Span'-iard[-?/a?'c7]. 

1. Spaix is a large country lying on the coast south- 
west of France. Between them is a high mountain- 
range. Its steep slopes are covered with forests, and are 
broken by narrow valleys, full of bright, rapid streams, 
with hundreds of foaming waterfalls. High up above 
the forests, whose glossy green leaves are never black- 
ened by frosts, are handsome flowering shrubs and 
mosses. Still higher are the hare mountain-peaks, cov- 
ered nearly all the year with snow and ice. 

2. This mountain-range is the Pyrenees. The passes 
that lead over it are difficult and dangerous every- 
where, except at the ends of the range. The forests 
are the home of many mountain-goats, and other fleet, 
surefooted animals, which leap from rock to rock with 
the greatest agility. 

3. Crossing the Pyrenees, and going southward, we 
find ourselves at length on a high table-land, — the roof 
of Spain as it might be called. It is dry, sterile, and so 
dusty, that even the few cultivated fields seem hardly 
less dreary than they would be without a green leaf 
upon them. The small, poor villages are so covered 
with the dust blown upon them by the terrible winds, 
that they become as gray as the ground, and at a short 
distance can hardly be distinguished from it. 

4. Here and there the high, dreary table-land is cut 
by a deep valley, through which flows a river; and 



136 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



there, sheltered from the sweeping winds, are beauti- 
ful orchards and gardens. But elsewhere little grows 
except poor, coarse grasses. In spring and autumn 
these furnish pasture for thousands of fine-woolled 
merino sheep ; but in the long dry summer the whole 
surface is parched and dead. Now the merinos are 
driven northward to fresh pastures near the moun- 
tains. In winter they go -down into the sheltered 
valleys to escape the storms and the cold, which are 
very severe. 

5. From this high table-land in the centre of Spain, 
long mountain-ranges, having broad, beautiful valleys 
between them, extend away to the sea at the east, south, 
and west. These mountains are rugged and broken. 
Man}' are covered with forests, which are the homes of 
multitudes of wolves; while the glens and caves are fre- 
quently the shelter of robbers. Thus travelling in the 
mountainous regions is not only unpleasant, but often 
dangerous. 

6. In the forests, are many valuable trees. Among 
them is a kind of oak, the bark of which is the cork, so 
useful in many ways. Another oak bears a small, sweet 
acorn, which is much relished by the people. It is eaten 
either uncooked, or boiled or roasted, as the French 
peasants eat chestnuts. Were we visiting in the parts 
of the country where it grows, it would be offered to 
us as a great delicacy. 

7. The highest of the mountain-ranges in Spain, like 
the highest in California, is called the Sierra Nevada, 
because its summit is covered with snow, even in mid- 
summer. In the warm, rich valleys at its foot are 
orange, olive, and mulberry groves, and gardens of 



SPAIN. 



137 



pine-apples, bananas, and beautiful flowers. No frost 
ever withers them ; and no winter's cold robs them of 
their leaves, their flowers, or their fruits. 

8. The olive, though a very useful tree, is not at all a 
handsome one. Its long 
narrow leaves are thick 
and stiff, and are of a 
dull grayish color, as 
though covered with 
dust. The branches are 
rough and crooked ; and 
the trunk looks as 
though a strong hand 
had seized it by the top, 
and twisted it, as we 
twist a cord. In spring 
it is covered with clus- 
ters of pretty white flow- 
ers, and in autumn with 
the small, dark-green, plum-shaped fruit from which the 
olive-oil, often called sweet oil, is pressed. The fruit is 
also preserved, and sent to other countries to be used 
as a relish at meals. 

9. Do you wish to know the use of the mulberry- 
trees? Their leaves furnish the food of the silkworm. 
Very many of these worms are raised in Spain. When 
they have lived a certain length of time, and are grown 
to their full size, they spin a fine thread, which they 
wind round their bodies until they are completely 
wrapped up in it. Thus they form a ball somewhat 
like that made by the caterpillar from which a butterfly 
comes in the spring. This ball of thread which the 




Olive Tree and Fruit. 



138 



GEOGRAPHICAL BEADEIi. 



silkworm spins is called a cocoon. Large quantities of 
cocoons are sent to Lyon, to be unwound and woven 
into elegant silks. 

10. There are not such great and busy cities in Spain 

as in England and 
France. The largest 
is Madrid, the capital 
of the country. It is 
on the high table-land, 
in the interior, far from 
the sea. No ships can 
come near it ; and it is 
without any large river 
upon which boats' can 
go to the sea, or to 
other parts of the 
country. 

Mulberry and Silkworm. n. Madrid is Very 

cold in winter, and very hot in summer, and so is not 
an agreeable place in which to live. Still the fountains 
playing in all parts of the city in the summer make it 
look very pleasant, and cool the air nicely. The water, 
like that of the fountains in Marseille and New York, 
comes from the country many miles away, and is pure 
and cool. 

12. The people of Madrid do little work. In the 
morning the men walk idly to and fro, with a long 
cloak over their shoulders, and a broad crimson sash, in 
which a large knife is always hidden, tied about their 
waist. The women wear long, rich dresses, with a shawl 
around them, and an elegant lace scarf thrown over 
their heads instead of a bonnet. 




SPAIN. 



139 



13. After dinner every one, even the workman, sleeps 
for several hours. In the evening people go to walk on 
the Prado, a beautiful, broad walk two miles in length, 
which runs through the city. Rows of elm-trees, with 
seats arranged beneath them, shade it; and here and 
there are fountains playing, around which are persons 
with little cups, waiting to sell water to those who are 
thirsty. 

14. Along the sea-shore are many cities, from which 
are shipped 

choice fruits, 
both fresh and 
dried, wines, 
and olive - oil. 
On the south- 
ern coast is a 
little old town, 
called Pal os, 
now all going 
to ruin. From 
this town, near- 
ly four hundred 
years ago, three 
small ships, fur- 
nished by the 
king and queen Fleet of coiumbus. 

of Spain, sailed away under the command of Christo- 
pher Columbus. They went in search of lands which 
Columbus believed might be found beyond the Atlantic 
Ocean. He was sure that the earth was rounds and 
that he could go to the Indies by sailing westward. 

15. When they came back, after many months, they 




140 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



brought tidings of a new land and a new people 
on the other side of the ocean ; for they had reached 
some islands of the West Indies. Cohimbus made other 
voyages, and found South America; and soon after 
North America was reached by another Spanish ex- 
pedition. Thus the Spaniards discovered the New 
World. It was they who made the first settlements 
there, and who conquered and destroyed the rich old 
cities in Mexico and the valleys of the Andes. 

16. On the west side of Spain, between a part of its 
territory and the Atlantic, is a narrow strip of country 
so much like Spain, that the traveller would hardly see 
any difference between them. This is Portugal. Like 
its greater neighbor, Portugal is famed for its warm, 
fruitful valleys and the fine wines from its vineyards. 



VIII. -ITALY. 



Ven'-ice [-iss]. Ve-su'-vi-us. Her-cu-la'-ne-um. 

gon'-do-la. Na'-ples [-plz]. Pom-pe'-ii l-pa'-ye], 

l. Italy is in the South of Europe. It is nearly 
surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, and is one of the 
hottest countries in the continent. The sky is almost 
always blue and clear ; and the country, with its moun- 
tains and green valleys, its vineyards and meadows, is 
always pleasant. People from all parts of the world 
go to Italy to enjoy the sunny sky and the charming 
country, and to see the fine pictures and statues, and 
the remains of magnificent buildings, made by the old 
Romans who lived there hundreds of years ago. 



ITALY. 



141 



2. The sun is so very . bright, that most things grow 
better by being somewhat shaded. For this reason 
you will see the fields planted- with rows of trees, — 
mulberries and olives, elms, poplars, and a kind of pine 




Lake Maggiore, in Itaiy. 

which thrives only in warm countries. Around the foot 
of these the grape-vines are planted. They climb the 
tree, and cover its branches ; and shoots of the vine go 
from one tree to another, hanging between them in 
graceful festoons. Between the rows of trees, wheat 
and corn are planted, and fine crops are produced. You 
see, therefore, that a vineyard in Italy is a very different 



142 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



thing from one in France. The tall grain, the branches 
of the trees, and the slender twigs of the grape-vine, 
waving in the wind nnder the blue sunny sky, make, 
as you may suppose, a very pretty picture. 

3. Sometimes, near a city, the road for miles is bor- 
dered on each side by rows of grape-vines. These, 
climbing upon trees or upon a sort of framework, meet 
over the road, making a pleasant shaded way for the 
traveller. The rich ripe grapes delight him with their 
fragrance, and he is allowed to gather all he wants to 
eat as he goes along; but he must not gather them 
to take away, for that would be robbing other travellers 
who may come after him. How would you like to 
travel in this country ? 

4. Italy contains very many old cities. They were 
once full of wealthy people, with splendid palaces, 
churches, and buildings of all kinds ; but the noble 
palaces have gone to ruin, and only the precious marble 
of which they were built remains to tell us how grand 
they once were. 

5. Rome is the most remarkable of these cities. It 
was built more than two thousand years ago by a brave 
and skilful people, who did every thing to make it 
grand and beautiful. When our Saviour came on the 
earth, the emperor of Rome ruled over nearly all of 
the world then known to the Romans. 

6. There is in Rome one of the finest churches in the 
world, named St. Peter's; also a very fine old palace, 
in which lives the Pope, the head of the Roman Catho- 
lic Church. In both of these buildings you find valua- 
ble paintings and sculptures made by men who have 
been dead hundreds of years. Although these have 



ITALY. 



143 



been studied by the great artists from all countries, yet 
none have ever produced works of higher merit. 

7. There are many grand palaces in Rome which are 
famous for their fine galleries of paintings and sculp- 
tures, or for their beautiful gardens. Some are sur- 
rounded by orange-trees, covered with snowy fragrant 




An Italian Church. 



flowers or delicious golden fruit gleaming among the 
glossy leaves. 

8. If you stand on the shore in the north-eastern part 
of Italy, and look away over the water, you will see, a 
long way off, palaces and towers which seem to rise 
from the midst of the waves, for you see no land around 
them. This is Venice, another famous old Italian city. 
It was built on a great number of small flat islands ; and 



144 GEOGRAPHICAL HEADER. 



its churches and palaces were adorned with marbles of 
the finest colors, or with white marble handsomely 
sculptured. These, with the sunny sky above them, 
and the calm blue waters below, made it one of the 
most beautiful cities in the world. 

9. Venice is still very handsome, though many of its 
finest buildings are almost in ruins. Graceful little 
boats, called gondolas, glide about from place to place 
in the quiet waters between the islands. The merry 
songs of the gondoliers sound much more pleasant than 
the rattling of carriages and heavy carts over the rough 
pavements, which in other cities almost deafens us. 

10. There are in Italy many cities besides these inter- 
esting old ones, though there are none so largo or so 
important as those of England and France. Naples is 
in the south of Italy, where there is hardly a touch of 
winter. It is built on the sea-shore, with a broad blue 
bay in front, and rough hills and fresh green valleys all 
around it. The valleys and hills are covered with 
orange-groves and vineyards. 

11. At a little distance, is the famous volcano of 
Vesuvius, from which black clouds of vapor are always 
rising. Its lower slopes are cultivated like the surround- 
ing country ; though the people know that at any time 
the volcano may send out a stream of lava to burn, or 
a shower of cinders to bury, them all. 

12. At times, when the orange-groves and vineyards 
are bathed in the beautiful sunlight, the cattle quietly 
feeding in the pastures, and the people peacefully work- 
ing or resting in their pleasant homes, a sudden noise 
like thunder is heard in the earth, and the mountain 
begins to tremble. The animals run about in terror, 



S WITZERLAND. 145 



and the people know that they must hasten to escape 
the danger that is coming. They go away into Naples 
or to some other place, far enough from the mountain 
to be safe. On coming back, they sometimes find their 
vineyards and villages all destroyed ; but they are not 
afraid to settle themselves again upon the slopes, for 
they know that the volcano is not likely to do any more 
harm for years. 

13. Two great cities, with a large number of the in- 
habitants, were once buried under substances thrown 
out from Vesuvius. Their names were Herculaneum and 
Pompeii. For nearly eighteen hundred years no one 
knew the place where they had been ; but now they 
have been found, and parts of them are uncovered. 
People can enter the houses, and see how they were 
arranged, and how people lived in those old times. 
Many curious and beautiful things, made before our 
Saviour came into the world, are found in these buried 
cities. 



IX. - SWITZERLAND. 



Swit'-zer-land. I av'-a-lanche. I cham'-ois [sham' -my], 

Ge-ne'-va. I gla'-cier [gld-seer]. \ al'-pine [pin}. 

l. Switzerland is a small but famous country east 
of France. The first thing one thinks of in hearing this 
name is the Alps, a high, rugged mountain-range. Its 
lower slopes are covered with vineyards, orchards, 
wheat-fields, and meadows, with pleasant villages in 
every valley. Higher up are green forests of oak and 
walnut, then tall, dark pines and firs. 



146 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



2. Above these, are clusters of low shrubs covered 
with bright flowers, and green pastures, with hundreds 
of fat, sleek cows feeding upon them. Little cottages 
are scattered all about, for the men who take care of 
the cows. Still higher are the tall sharp peaks, cov- 




View in the Alps. 

ered with ice and snow, and glistening like silver in the 
sunshine. These are the highest mountains in Europe, 
and among the grandest in the world. They fill all 
the southern half of Switzerland, and separate it from 
Italy. 

3. Thousands of bright streams flow through the 



SWITZERLAND. 147 



pleasant green valleys, leaping over precipices, and 
making fine waterfalls. Some of these are so high, 
that the water, in falling, changes into fine spray ; and 
the fall looks like a shower of white dnst coming 
from the sky. Sometimes the streams go leaping and 
dancing into little basin-like hollows, or deep gorges 
among the mountains. These make beautiful lakes, 
that smile in the sunshine, reflecting the snowy peaks 
above them or the green forests around. 

4. High up in the mountains, beyond the forests and 
green pastures, the valleys are no longer gay with 
streams that dance and sparkle and sing ; but in their 
stead are rivers of ice, creeping along so slowly, so very 
slowly, that they seem not to move at all. It is only 
after watching them a long time, and trying them in 
many ways, that people have found out that they do 
move. They are called glaciers. 

5. In the cold winter, the heights where the glacier 
is formed look very dreary, all buried in deep snow; 
but, when the spring comes, the snow melts away, and 
there is left only the great ice-river in the valley. The 
mountain-slopes on both sides of it are covered with 
fresh green grass and pretty mountain flowers. How 
strange that must seem ! Sometimes flowers grow and 
blossom, even on the top of the ice, in the little heaps 
of earth that have gathered there by falling from the 
rocks above. 

6. These ice-rivers go over precipices too, and make 
cataracts of ice all broken and split into every possible 
shape. Some of them are very grand. In the lower 
valleys, where the summer is quite warm, the end of 
the glacier melts away as fast as it descends. Thus it 



148 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



advances no farther, but the melting ice forms a fine 
stream of water. The Rhone, which flows through 
Lyon, in France, springs, in this way, from one of the 
glaciers of the Alps. 

7. Up among the snowy peaks, from which the gla- 
ciers descend, terrible avalanches are sometimes formed. 
During or after a winter storm, a mass of snow becomes 
loosened from the rock on which it fell, and begins to 
roll down the mountain. As it moves onward, the snow 
on which it rolls clings to it, making it larger and heav- 
ier every moment, until it becomes an immense body. 
Now it rushes along as swiftly as the wind, dashing 
down the forest-trees in its path, and never stopping 
until it has reached the valley at the foot of the slope, 
where it sometimes buries whole villages. 

8. The wild mountain-peaks, where few except the 

bravest hunters 
can go, are the 
home of the 
small, graceful 
chamois. It is a 
very fleet and 
sure-footed ani- 
mal, and leaps 

nimbly from rock to rock, seeking its food even on the 
brink of precipices, where you would not think it pos- 
sible for any creature to stand. Here, too, dwells the 
great mountain-eagle, a strong, brave bird, that is very 
troublesome to the Alpine shepherds, robbing them of 
their lambs and kids, and sometimes even of their little 
children. 

9. The whole of Switzerland is only a knot of moun- 




Chamois. 



SWITZERLAND. 149 



tains and green valleys, sparkling with bright streams 
and clear mountain-lakes. Every little valley has its 
villages, and all the larger ones have pleasant cities, 
many of which are beside the beautiful lakes. You 
see, therefore, that, though a small country, it contains 
many inhabitants. They are a strong, brave people, 
who love their mountains and valleys so much, that 
they can never bear to leave them, and are ready to 
fight and die for their homes. 

10. The peasants, who have their small farms on the 
mountains, keep cows and goats; and many of them 
spend the whole summer making cheese. As soon as 
the snow is gone, the men go with their herds away up 
to the high mountain-pastures. There they stay until 
the snow comes again in the autumn, living in little 
cottages in the pastures, taking care of their cows, and 
having scarcely any thing but milk and cheese to eat. 
In autumn they come down again, bringing with them 
their cheeses, which they sell in the cities. 
• 11. It is a very merry time when the cows go to the 
pastures in the spring. The whole village to which 
the herdsmen belong has a holiday ; and their friends 
go with them part of the way, shouting, singing, and 
making themselves merry in every way. 

12. In many villages, all the winter, the people are 
carving from wood curious vases, knives, boxes, spoons, 
figures of cheese-makers, of hunters with their chamois, 
and many other things. These are sold as curiosities 
to travellers who visit the mountains. 

13. Some of the valleys, though quite high and cold, 
are yet full of pleasant villages and cities, where almost 
everybody is making watches. Geneva is the great mar- 



150 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



ket of the watch-makers. It is a very beautiful town 
beside Lake Geneva, one of the largest lakes of the 
country. 



X.- GERMANY. 



Dan'-ube. I Rhine [Rine]. I Mu'-nich [-nik]. 

Ger'-ma-ny. | Ber-lin'. | Prus'-sia [Prush'-ia]. 

1. There is a broad mountain-land extending north- 
ward from the Alps, the mountains becoming constantly 
lower and lower. Two great rivers flow through it, — 
the Danube, going east; and the Rhine, going north. 
They are the longest rivers in all the western part of 
Europe. 

2. This mountain country is divided into many little 
states, — almost as many as there are separate ranges 
and different valleys and basins. In- all these the Ger- 
man language is spoken ; and they are united into one 
great empire called Germany. Thus Germany is not 
the name of a single state, like France or England, but 
of many united. 

3. The southern part is much like Switzerland, with 
its mountains covered with dark forests and green pas- 
tures ; its wood-cutters, chamois-hunters, and milkmen ; 
and its mountain villages, wood-carvers, and toy-makers. 
It is full of deep gorges, bordered by high and some- 
times very steep walls of rock, and is the most inter- 
esting part of Germany. 

4. Here and there, on the top of the highest rocks, 
is a gray old castle, where, years ago, brave men lived. 
They were always having quarrels with each other, and 



GERMANY. 



151 



put their strong castles in these places to keep out of 
reach of their enemies. Sometimes, while the lords 
of these strongholds, and their retainers, were all gone 
to fight one enemy, another would come to beat down 
the castle. Then the ladies who were left at home 
were obliged, with their servants, to defend it alone. 
There were brave ladies in those days ; and sometimes 




A Castle on the Rhine. 

they would drive the enemy away as well as the lords 
of the castle themselves. 

5. Those things are all past now. Many of the 
castles are without inhabitants ; and bats and owls, rats 
and mice, live where brave knights and fair ladies once 
had their home. Everybody likes to see those old cas- 
tles, and think of the old times, so different from the 
present, and of the brave people of those days. 



152 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



6. Through this rough country the Rhine flows in a 
broad, beautiful valley, which, like all the warm valleys 
of Germany, is covered with orchards and vineyards. 
At length the valley narrows to mountain-gorges, 
through which the river finds its way, among crags and 
peaks crowned with ancient castles. Then it moves 
slowly onward, across low, flat plains, to the sea. 

7. The part of Germany beyond the mountains is 
very level, and is covered with grain-fields and pastures. 
You may see also large fields of flax, which the German 
women know how to spin into the finest threads, for 
making the rich laces that all ladies so much admire. 
The plains extend northward to the shores of the Baltic 
Sea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. 

8. In the Baltic plains, is the larger part of the king- 
dom of Prussia, the most powerful of the German coun- 
tries. In the sands along the coast, is found a beautiful 
substance called amber, which you may have seen, for it 
is used for beads and many other ornaments. After a 
storm in which the waves have rolled high, and have 
washed and beaten the sands of the beach, it may often 
be found in large quantities. 

9. In the western part of Prussia, in the midst of 
the plains, is the great city of Berlin, the capital of the 
German Empire. This city has one of the finest streets 
in Europe. At one end of it is the King's palace ; at 
the other is a splendid gate, leading through the walls 
into the country. 

10. Berlin contains a celebrated University, in which 
young men are taught any branch of learning they 
desire to study. Many of the greatest scholars of Ger- 
many have studied or taught here for many years. 



GERMANY. 153 

The University, and* the learned men it has brought to 
Berlin, have made the city renowned all over the world. 
There are many other noted universities in Germany. 

11. Germany has many large cities besides Berlin, 
some of them very old, and 
full of strange buildings and 
fine churches that were built 
hundreds of years ago. They 
have very strong, dark walls, 
tall towers, and multitudes 
of slender pinnacles ; and are 
adorned with figures of men 
and animals, leaves and 
flowers, and many other or- 
naments, carved from the 
solid stone. 

12. Some of the churches, 
though begun so long ago, 
have never been entirely fin- 
ished, and probably never 
will be. Strasburg Cathedral 
is one of the old German 
structures. Strasburg is at 
the west of the Rhine, in 
country conquered by the 
French two hundred years 
ago. It was not " German s P ire of strasburg cathedral. 
again " until taken from the French in the war of 1870. 

13. Munich is one of the finest of German cities. It 
is famous for its elegant embellishments, and valuable 
collections of paintings and sculptures. Among these, 
are works of the greatest artists of all Europe. 




154 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



XI. -AUSTRIAN EMPIRE, TURKEY, AND 
GREECE. 

Aus'-tri-a. I Vi-en'-na. | Hun'-ga-ry [Hung'-']. 

Tur'-key. | mosque [mosk]. | Con-stan-ti-no'-ple. 

1. There is in the central part of Europe, east of 
Germany, a large country called the Austrian Empire. 
The western portion includes a part of the Alps, and 
is much like Switzerland and Southern Germany. 
Through this the Danube flows, winding along beauti- 
ful valleys, or rushing down deep and narrow gorges in 
waterfalls and rapids. 

2. East of the mountains, is a fine country of low hills 
and rich plains, in which are forests, grain-fields, and 
vineyards. Everywhere are villages and cities, some 
of which have stood for hundreds of years; and here 
and there, on rugged hills, are strong old castles, like 
those in Germany. The largest of the cities is Vienna; 
which is situated beside the Danube, near the point 
where it leaves the mountains. It is the capital of the 
empire, and contains the palaces in which the emperor 
and his family live, and many other splendid buildings. 

3. Bej^ond this varied country, a broad plain stretches 
eastward, without hills, without trees, without roads, 
without houses. Along the streams are immense 
marshes, which it is almost impossible to cross. Else- 
where the plain is sandy, covered only by grass or other 
low plants. In some places, even these do not grow ; 
but the bare, loose sand is driven by the winds into 
ridges like snow-drifts. 



AUSTRIAN EMPIRE, TURKEY, AND GREECE. 155 



4. East and north of these great plains, is another 
mountainous region. It is covered with forests, and is 
full of rich deposits of gold and silver, copper and lead, 
rock-salt, and many other valuable minerals. These 
mountain-lands and the plains of the Danube are both 
in Hungary, the largest division of the Austrian Empire. 
It contains some of the finest and richest portions of 
Central Europe. 

5. South of the Austrian Empire is a wide region of 
small plains, mountain-ranges, and valleys. The Black 
Sea is at the east of it, the Mediterranean at the south, 
and the Adriatic at the West. For several hundred 
years this was all one country, called Turkey in 
Europe ; for the Turks, who came from Asia, conquered 
the native peoples. 

6. Now the southern portion, and Roumania at the 
north, form independent kingdoms. The parts next 
south of the Danube have princes of their own, and are 
nearly independent ; so that only a small strip through 
the middle of their former possessions is at present con- 
trolled by the Turks. 

7. If you were to travel in Turkey, you would find 
many things to surprise you, — not in the country itself, 
for it is much like the other warm countries in Europe, 
but in the appearance and manners of its people. The 
men wear long, loose robes falling down to the feet. 
Around the waist is a broad belt, or sash, in which a 
sword is usually carried; and on the head is a large 
turban, instead of a hat. 

8. The Turks have no chairs nor sofas in their houses, 
but sit on large, soft cushions, or on rugs spread upon the 
floor. The Turkish ladies are not taught even to read, 



156 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



and are never allowed to go into the street, unless 
veiled so that only their eyes can be seen. Then even 
their own husbands or fathers could not recognize them. 




A Street Scene in Constantinople. 

There, it would be thought as strange for a lady to go 
into the street without a veil, as, in this country, with- 
out shoes. 

9. On the borders of Turkey the waters of the Black 
Sea go south-westward to the Mediterranean, making a 
short but most famous passage between Europe and 
Asia. The old Greeks had many strange legends con- 



AUSTRIAN EMPIRE, TURKEY, AND GREECE. 157 



nected with this stream : besides, the hostile armies 
that in old times used to pass from one continent to the 
other, were accustomed to cross here. It was over this 
stream that the ancient Persian king made the bridge 
of boats for his soldiers to cross on when he attempted 
to conquer Greece. 

10. Near the Black Sea, on a beautiful expansion of 
this outlet called the Golden Horn, is the great city of 
Constantinople. The sunny blue sky above, the ships 
with their snowy sails floating quietly on the peaceful 
waters, and the great city on the shore with its gilded 
domes and slender minarets, present a very delightful 
view. 

11. The city itself looks fine as you see it from a dis- 
tance ; but, on entering it, you find the streets narrow, 
dirty, and disagreeable, and the buildings generally 
poor and low, though some of the churches, or mosques, 
are very elegant. 

12. Greece was the first part of Turkey in Europe 
to become free. It is nearly surrounded by the great 
Mediterranean Sea, and the Greeks are very fond of sea- 
life. They build many ships, and are excellent sailors. 

13. When the rest of Europe was peopled only by 
shepherds, or by tribes of half-wild men, Greece was 
the home of scholars and artists, — men who studied to 
become wise, and who produced works of art exhibiting 
such taste and skill, that they have ever since called 
forth the wonder and admiration of the most cultivated 
people of all nations. The country is full of the ruins 
of cities, which in ancient times were among the most 
beautiful in the world. Athens was one of the most 
famous cities of the olden time. 



158 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



XII. -RUSSIA. 
Kus'-si-a [Bush-]. | Cas'-pi-an. | Pe'-ters-burg. 

i. We have noticed very many countries in Europe ; 
but all these together form only about one half of the 
continent. The other half is one great country named 
Russia. On the southern border is the Black Sea, and 
on the south-east another immense body of water named 
the Caspian Sea. 

2. If we were to travel across Russia from north to 
south, we should find first a frozen country, with plants, 
animals, and people much like those in the coldest part 
of North America. South of this cold, dreary region 
is an immense forest, inhabited by bears, wolves, deer, 
and innumerable other animals, from many of which fine 
furs are obtained. In all this vast region not a single 
city, not a village, and hardly a farm, can be seen. 
Farther south, in the middle part of Russia, are smaller 
forests here and there, with cultivated lands, villages, 
and rich cities, as in other countries. 

3. Railroads are not common all over Russia, as in 
the United States and England and France. For this 
reason, travelling by land is not so easy everywhere. 
In winter the travellers wrap themselves in warm fur 
cloaks and robes, and, with fine horses and large sleighs, 
glide swiftly and pleasantly over the sparkling snow. 
But the forests are dangerous on account of the wolves, 
great troops of them sometimes following the sleigh for 
miles. 

4. In the western part of Russia, near the sea, with the 



BUSSIA. 



159 



great forest-country at the east of it, is St. Petersburg, 
the capital. Here it is hot in summer ; but the summers 
are short, and the winters are long and very cold. The 
ground is covered with deep snow ; the river beside the 
city is frozen ; and the adjacent sea is filled with ice. 
The people, wrapped in furs so that you can hardly see 




The Winter Palace, St. Petersburg. 

their faces, amuse themselves in sleighing, and in sliding 
down hill. As the land about the city is flat, " ice-hills " 
are built on purpose for this sport. 

5. There is hardly another city in Europe so full of 
palaces and other fine buildings as St. Petersburg. The 
emperor's residence, called the " Winter Palace," is one 
of the largest and grandest in the world. Near it is a 
fine statue of Peter the Great on horseback. 



AFRICA, 



I. -SAHARA AND THE BARBARY STATES. 

Sa-ha'-ra [-hah'-}. o'-a-sis. ; Ar'-abs. 

car'-a-van [care'-]. At'-las. | Bar'-ba-ry. 

i. In the northern part of Africa, is an immense dry, 
barren plain, almost as large as onr whole country. 
As far as the eye can reach, there is only a -bare, sandy 
surface, with occasional hills and mountains of naked 
rock. Hardly ever a drop of rain falls, or a cloud is 
seen in the sky, and never a cool breeze fans your 
cheek ; but all the year round it is the same dry, 
desolate land. Such a dry, barren country is called a 
desert. 

2. This is the Great Desert, or Sahara. Here and 
there, as you travel over it, you may find a little spring 
bubbling up from the earth, and sending a small stream 
of water for a short distance, until it is lost in the 
sand. In other places, wells have been dug from which 
the ground can be watered. Around the springs and 
wells, the earth is no longer naked, and scorching to 
the feet, but is covered with a rich, cool carpet of fresh 
grass, and shaded by groves of date-trees. Such a 
fertile spot, like a green island in the sea of sand, is 
called an oasis. There are many oases in some parts 
of the desert. 

160 



SAHARA AND THE B ABB ART STATES. 



161 



3. On the larger oases are wandering Arabs, with 
flocks of sheep and goats, and many camels and horses. 
When the flocks have eaten all the grass upon one oasis, 
the Arabs go with them to another, and then another ; 
and thus they wander from place to place all the year 
round. Because they must thus keep moving about all 




A Caravan overtaken by a Sand-storm. 

the time, these Arabs do not build houses, but live 
in tents, which can be taken up, and carried with 
them wherever they go. They are called nomads, or 
wanderers. 

4. Arab merchants, in great companies called cara- 
vans, constantly travel across the desert, conveying goods 
from the countries on one side to those on the other. 



162 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



These are packed in large bundles, and fastened upon 
the backs of camels. The food and water for the whole 
company are also carried by camels. 

5. The desert chiefs, who take care of and guide the 
caravan, are mounted on beautiful, swift horses. Their 
saddles and bridles are trimmed with crimson velvet, 
and gold and silver fringes, and buttons. They wear 
long silk robes of bright colors, and rich turbans ; and 
with swords by their sides, or spears in their hands, 
they present a very striking appearance. 

6. The caravans travel during the day, and at night 
encamp, if possible, on some oasis ; but they sometimes 
go on for days without rinding any. Then it occasionally 
happens that the water brought with them gives out, 
and they suffer greatly. The camels can go several 
days without water: but the horses and men cannot; 
and, if they do not soon reach a spring or well, they 
die of thirst. 

7. Besides, fierce winds often sweep over the desert, 
filling the air with thick clouds of sand. Some of 
these sand-storms are so dreadful as nearly to destroy 
the caravans. You would think no one would wish to 
go into such dangers ; but the Arabs love the wild life 
of the desert. 

8. The Sahara, though so great, is not the whole of 
Africa, nor even half of it. There are fertile lands both 
north and south of it. Near the north coast of Africa, 
opposite Italy and Spain, is a mountain-land, with fine 
valleys, streams, and lakes. The mountains, called the 
Atlas, are covered with forests. In the valleys are vil- 
lages and cities surrounded by wheat-fields and orange- 
groves, vineyards and mulberry-trees. 



EGYPT AND THE NEGRO-LAND. 



163 



9. Along the coast also are cities, with ships in their 
harbors from many countries. This region seems quite 
like Europe ; for not only are the plants similar, but 
besides the Arabs and Berbers, to whom the country 
belongs, there are many English, French, and other 
European people here. This part of Africa is called 
Barbary, or the country of the Berbers. 



II. -EGYPT AND THE NEGRO-LAND. 
E'-gypt [-jipt]. | E-gyp'-tian [shun]. | Sou-dan 7 [Soo-]. 

i. East of the Barbary States, in the corner of Africa, 
is Egypt, of which no doubt you have all heard. It is 
the country to which Joseph was taken when his brothers 




A Scene on the River Nile. 



sold him. Through it flows a great river named the 
Nile, which is one of the longest in the world. It 
was in the grass and rushes beside this river that Moses 



164 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



was hidden by his mother, in a little cradle made so 
that it could float on the water. 

2. Egypt is a small country, only a narrow strip of 
fertile land along the river, with a desert on each side 
of it. It hardly ever has rain ; yet it is a very fruitful 
country, and has always been famous for the wheat, 
rice, and other things, that grow there. You remember 
how we read in the Bible, that once, when there was 
a famine for seven years, Jacob sent his sons to Egypt 
to buy corn. How do you suppose this can be, when 
there is no rain? I will tell you. 

3. Every year, in June, the Nile rises, and overflows 
its banks ; and all the land around it is covered with 
water for several months. If you should" visit Egypt 
at this time, you would see only what appears to be a 
great lake, with a boundless desert on each side, and 
with islands here and there, each having a village or 
city upon it. 

4. In October the flood goes down, and leaves the 
ground wet, and covered with a thin coat of rich soil 
that has settled from the water. Just as soon as they 
can see the earth again, the Egyptian farmers, who do 
not need to plough the fields, sow the seed upon this 
damp new soil ; and, as the country is very warm, it 
sprouts, and grows quickty. Where the lake was, may 
now be seen a broad green plain, with the river slowly 
gliding through it, and the villages and cities scattered 
here and there on little hills or mounds. 

5. Frequent canals, leading from the river across the 
plain, are filled by the overflow with water from the 
Nile ; and, when the fields begin to get dry, they are 
watered from these, until the plants are grown and 



EGYPT AND THE NEGBO-LAND. 



165 



ready to be gathered. Thus, you see, it is only the Nile 
that keeps Egypt from being a desert. 

6. South of the Sahara is the part of Africa in which 
the negroes live. There are lakes, almost as large as 
those of our country, with great rivers flowing from 




Negro Houses. 

them, through fertile regions to the sea. On the bor- 
ders of some are wide marshes, covered with reeds and 
cane, in which multitudes of animals hide to sleep, or 
to watch for their prey. 

7. In other places, the whole broad country, for hun- 
dreds of miles, is one great forest. The trees are always 



166 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



green, — growing, blooming*, and bearing their fruits, at 
all times in the year. Here, too, are the great elephant, 
the terrible lion, the tall giraffe, besides hundreds of 
other animals; for in Africa are gathered, in greater 
numbers than in any other continent, the largest, 
strongest, and most beautiful animals in the world. 

8. The part next south of the Sahara is called Soudan. 
It is a middle region, between the barren lands of the 
desert, and the vast forests of Central Africa ; and the 
country consists of rich, treeless plains alternating with 
woodlands. Here are found the finest looking and most 
intelligent of the negro tribes. 

9. The negroes of Soudan raise grain, cotton, and 
other things. They know how to make cloth from the 
cotton, and to make, from iron and copper, such tools 
as they need. They live together in towns and villages, 
which are mere collections of huts, looking entirely un- 
like any thing we ever saw. 

io. In the extreme south the coast lands belong to 
England. The interior is the native home of many of 
our finest flowering plants, like the geraniums and bril- 
liant lilies. A few years ago diamonds were discovered 
there, and one of the largest diamonds ever seen has 
just been found in South Africa. 




ASIA. 



I. -WESTERN ASIA. 

Per'-si-a [shir]. I Is-pa-han'. I Pal'-es-tine. 

Ar'-a-rat. I Eu-phra'-tes [-fra'-teez]. | pome'-gran-ate [pum'-\. 

1. East of Europe and Africa, is Asia, the largest of 
all the continents. It contains several great and very 
interesting countries. In the portion nearest to Europe 
and Africa, which is quite different from the rest of the 
continent, are Turkey, Arabia, and Persia. 

2. Turkey in Asia and Turkey in Europe form one 
country, called the Turkish Empire. This is one of the 
most interesting regions in the whole world. In the 
north-eastern corner is a little mountain-land called 
Armenia, where, some people think, the Garden of Eden 
was. On the border of Armenia is Ararat, believed by 
many to be the mountain on which the ark rested after 
the flood. 

3. From Armenia flow two large rivers, — the Euphra- 
tes and the Tigris, on the banks of which stood the 
celebrated cities, Babylon and Nineveh. According to 
the old writers, they were more magnificent than any 
cities now in existence ; but, strong and great as they 
were, they have perished, and only heaps of ruins re- 
main to mark the places Avhere they stood. 

4. At the east end of the Mediterranean, is Palestine, 

167 



168 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



the country of the Jews. Here was Jerusalem, in which 
Solomon built the magnificent temple ; and Bethlehem, 
where Jesus was born. Through a deep valley east of 
Jerusalem flows the River Jordan, in which he was bap- 
tized. In this country he lived, and did all the wonder- 




Entrance to Bethlehem. 

ful works recorded of him. It is these things which 
make this land interesting to us. 

5. The western part of Turkey is mountainous, but 
was once very fruitful. On its mountains were forests 
of cedars; and its valleys and hillsides were covered 
with vineyards and olive-groves, pomegranates and fig- 
trees, mingled with grain-fields and rich pastures. Now 



WESTERN ASIA. 169 



most of it is quite barren and dreary ; and in some 
places are still found the ruins of splendid cities which 
once adorned it. 

6. Arabia lies beside Northern Africa, and is in many 
respects very different from Turkey. Some parts of it 
are hot and dry, like the Sahara, — a dreary desert- 




An Arab Encampment. 

land, dotted with green oases of date-palms. Elsewhere 
there are forests of trees yielding rich gums and odors ; 
and in the south, growing upon the hillsides, are groves 
of the coffee-tree, from which the best coffee in the 
world is obtained. 

7. This is the country from which the Arabs of Africa 
came ; and in the dry regions here they lead the same 
sort of bold, free life, with their herds, their camels, 
and their swift horses. The horses of Arabia are famous 



170 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



all over the world for their beauty of form and their 
fleetness ; and the Arab loves his horse as well as he 
does his wife and children. 

8. Persia is also a dry county, and the southern 
part is very warm. In some places you may travel 
many miles without seeing a single tree, hardly a patch 
of grass ; then suddenly you come in sight of groves 
of trees, jDleasant green fields, and gardens filled with 
fragrant flowers, in the midst of which is a city. Ispa- 
han is such a place. These trees have all been planted 
by the people in order that they may have wood for 
burning, and for use in building. 

9. Some of these cities have rivers flowing through 
them ; but others are built beside canals, which bring 
water from some distant lake or river. In this case 
it sometimes happens that enemies destroy the canal ; 
and then, as there is no water, the people are obliged to 
remove to some other place. The trees die, the gardens 
become a desert, and the forsaken city goes to ruin. 
There are many such ruined cities in Persia. 

io. In the mountains which form the borders of Persia 
are streams and lakes, and fertile valleys which are the 
native home of many of our finest fruits. Here are 
great fields of roses, that fill the air with their fragrance, 
and whole gardens of tulips and many other lovely 
flowers, carpeting the hillsides with brilliant colors. 

ii. Groves of peach-trees are laden with delicious 
fruit ; and sweet, juicy melons and cucumbers cover the 
earth. Here, too, strong vines climb from tree to tree, 
bearing rich grapes, in clusters much larger and heavier 
than any you have ever seen ; and luscious cherries, 
apricots, and many other fruits, grow without care. 



THE INDIES. 



171 



II. -THE INDIES. 



In'-di-a. 



| Gan'-ges [ -jeez]. 



| Cal-cut'-ta. 



i. East of Arabia, in the southern part of Asia, are 
two great peninsulas ; and a little farther south, in the 
ocean, is a cluster of the largest islands in the world. 
These peninsulas and islands together are usually called 
the Indies, though each of them has its own separate 
name. 

2. These are all hot countries, with plenty of rain, 
and are remarkable for the abundance and variety of 
both vegetable and ani- 
mal productions, as 
well as for mii\eral 
wealth. The forests are 
as dense and varied as 
those of the Selvas, and 
the Wild animals as 
large and as fierce as 
any in Africa. Rep- 
tiles and insects also 
throng the streams and the forests, and greatly trouble 
the people by their poisonous bites and stings. 

3. But what makes the Indies most interesting to us 
is the great number of spices and other precious things 
they produce. This is the country of the pepper, the 
clove, the cinnamon, the nutmeg. Almost all the kinds 
of spices now raised in different parts of the world may 
be found in the forests of these peninsulas or islands. 
In some places the surrounding air is filled with their 




An Elephant. 



172 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



pleasant odor. There are many rare kinds of wood, rich 
fruits, and valuable medicines ; and from the Island of 
Java large quantities of excellent coffee are obtained. 

4. Brilliant diamonds, rubies of the finest color, em- 
eralds, and all those stones which are most valued, and 
used to ornament the crowns of kings and emperors, are 
found here. For thousands of years other countries all 
over Asia and Europe have known of the wealth of the 
Indies, and have sought to obtain these precious things. 
Many voyages from countries in Western Europe, in 
the time of Columbus, were undertaken in the hope 
of finding a shorter way to this wonderful land. 

5. The greater and more western of the two penin- 
sulas belongs to the government of Great Britain, and is 
therefore called British India. This is the most inter- 
esting of all these countries. In the northern part of 
this peninsula a large river, called the Granges, flows 
through a rich plain eastward to the sea. 

6. While many of the inhabitants of Europe were 
scarcely more learned or skilful than are the negroes of 
Soudan, there were on this plain great cities and splendid 
temples, books, and learned men. Before any of the great 
cities now in Europe had been built, the people here 
knew how to make the finest muslins, lovely shawls, 
and many beautiful things from wood, ivory, pearl, and 
gold. These were sought for by other nations as much 
as were the spices and precious stones of the Indies. 

7. This plain is still covered with great cities, some of 
them very old. There are in many of them thousands 
of English soldiers and merchants, besides all the native 
people. Calcutta, the capital of British India, is in the 
low, marshy lands, at the mouth of the Ganges. 



CHINA AND JAPAN. 173 



III. -CHINA AND JAPAN. 

Chi'-na. Jap-an'. To-ki-o'. 

Can-ton'. Pe-king'. Yed'-do. 

1. China is in the far eastern part of Asia, bordering 
upon the Pacific Ocean. The Japan Islands are in the 
ocean, opposite the northern part of China. In some 
things these countries are much like our own, having 
plenty of rain, and being neither very warm, nor too 
cold for most of the useful plants to grow. But in 
other things they are very different, as you will see ; 
and they are among the most interesting countries of 
Asia. 

2. China has in the west high mountains, whose tops 
are covered with snow most of the year. In the east 

at the east. A Chinese Junk. 

Japan is a mountain-land, with wide and fertile valleys, 
and small plains near the sea. 



174 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



3. The Chinese are a very singular people. They 
used always to stay in their own country, instead of 
travelling about all over the world to see and learn, as 
other people do ; and they did not want people from 
other countries to come and live with them. 

4. They did not, for this reason, learn from other 
nations, and make changes and improvements in their 
way of doing things, as others do ; but for thousands of 
years they continued to dress, and build their ships and 
houses, and work, and amuse themselves, just as did 
their ancestors ages and ages before. 

5. They were the first people to find out how to print 
books, and how to make many useful things ; but, while 
all the other nations of the world have gone on learn- 
ing, they have not improved, and therefore are much 
behind them. Now they are finding out that they are 
not the wisest people in the world, and have begun to 
change their ways. 

6. In no other country of the same size will you find 
so many people living as in China. Every foot of land 
is turned to account. Even hills and mountain-sides, 
which are so steep that the earth would all be washed 
away by the rain, have little walls of stone built across 
them to hold the soil, so that they look like a very 
broad flight of stairs. 

7. These steps, or terraces, are carefully cultivated, and 
made to produce the useful crops of the country. . They 
are watered by hand, and thus much work is needed to 
raise plants in some parts of China. Even on the rivers 
are floating gardens, made by putting earth on rafts, or 
floors of timber. On these are little houses, in which 
the people live, and float about from place to place, 



CHINA AND JAPAN. 



175 




Tea-plant. 



taking, when they travel, their house and garden with 
them. 

8. Nearly the same things grow in both China and 
Japan. The chief productions are 
rice, cotton, wheat, the mulberry, 
and, most important of all, the tea- 
plant. Nearly all the tea which is 
used in all parts of the world is 
raised in these two countries. 

a For ages the Chinese have fed 
the silk-worm, and manufactured 
silk; and have also made porcelain 
cups and saucers, and other things 
for the table, as well as vases and 
ornaments of many kinds. These 
are called " China-ware ; " because, 
for a very long time, the people of China alone knew 
how to make them. Thus you see that they must be 
very industrious ; for they make all these beautiful 
things with their own hands, and not by machinery, as 
they are made in our country and in Europe. 

10. Both the Chinese and Japanese are yellowish- 
brown people; but they are much more learned, and 
live in a far better manner, than any of the other nations 
of their color. The Japanese resemble the Chinese in 
their ways of thinking and living, as well as in looks. 
Like them, too, after standing still for ages, they have 
begun to learn of other nations, and to advance. 

li. Both these countries have many great, old, and 
interesting cities. Peking, in China, has a high, strong 
wall around it, with gates that are always guarded 
during the day, and kept shut and barred at night, so 



176 GEOGRAPHICAL HEADER. 



that no enemy can come in. It has also large beautiful 
gardens, with hills, lakes, and groves, besides palaces 
for the Emperor and his relations. 

12. Canton was for many years the only city of China 
which the Emperor would allow ships from other coun- 
tries to visit. The Emperor of Japan and his ministers 
live in Tokio, which used to be called Yeddo. 



IV. -MIDDLE ASIA AND SIBERIA. 
Him-a-la'-ya. | Cash'-mere. | Tbib'-et [tib'-et\. 

1. North of India, is a great wall of mountains, 
called the Himalaya, "the home of the snows." They 
are the highest mountains in the whole world, and the 
most steep and wild. It is almost impossible to cross 
them at any place, because they are so very steep; and, 
besides, there are terrible storms, which cover the way 
with snow, so that a traveller would not know where to 
find a safe path. 

2. The rivers here flow very swiftly, and fill the air 
with mists and dampness ; and the valleys are only 
gorges, often so deep and narrow, that the sun never 
shines at the bottom of them. Away up in this great 
home of the snows, you will not see a single animal, nor 
hear any living thing ; and all is so wild and solemn, 
that even the sound of your own steps will make you 
tremble. 

3. On the middle slopes of the mountains, are many 
plants and animals like those on the Alps. Above the 
forests the mountain-sides are covered with bright- 
colored Alpine flowers ; and many interesting plants 



MIDDLE ASIA AND SIBERIA. 



177 



and animals are natives of these heights. This is the 
home of the beautiful horse-chestnut tree which we plant 
in our streets and gardens. In one of the valleys, called 
the Vale of Cashmere, the cashmere goat lives, from 
whose wool the elegant 
shawls of India are made. 

4. South of this range 
is British India, with its 
spice-forests, its great ani- 
mals, and continual sum- 
mer. Beyond it, to the 
north, is a vast mountain- 
land, so elevated that 
even the bottoms of the 
valleys are nearly as high 
as the top of the Alps ; 
while the peaks rising far 
above them are almost as 
high as the Himalaya. 

5. This mountain-land 
is Thibet. We might call 
it the Switzerland of Asia ; 
for it is the highest and 
most mountainous coun- 
try of this continent, and, 
indeed, of all the world. 
Some of the lower val- 
leys contain streams and lakes bordered with cities and 
villages, grain-fields, orchards, and vinej^ards. 

6. In summer the mountain-pastures are full of flocks 
of sheep and goats, famous for their fine silky wool, 
from which handsome cloth and shawls are made. In 




In the Himalaya Mountains. 



178 



GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



winter the whole country is very cold, — so cold that 
travellers are often frozen to death on their journeys. 
It is only in the most sheltered valleys that people can 
live in winter, and even these are very dreary. 

7. Beyond the snowy mountains, on the northern bor- 
der of Thibet, is a broad, barren table-land. In the 
western part, where it is lowest, are some streams and 
lakes ; and here are villages and cities, green pastures, 
and cultivated fields. Elsewhere there is only the gray 




A Scene in Mongolia. 

sand, hardly covered with the low gray plants, which 
alone can grow on these barren lands. 

8. This is Mongolia. At times one may see this almost 
desert country covered with great herds of horses, oxen, 
goats, sheep, and camels. Low tents are grouped in 
the midst of them ; and men on swift horses ride about, 
watching the herds, and at night gathering them all 
together close to the tents. But in a day or two all 
are gone ; and only the naked, dreary land is left, with 
not a plant, nor a living animal, to be seen. 



MIDDLE ASIA AND SIBERIA. 



179 



9. The Mongols wander over the table-land, wherever 
they can find food for the herds, frequently remaining 
only a few days in the same place. They are a very war- 
like people ; and often great companies of them come 
suddenly upon some of the villages in the better part of 
the table-land, rob and kill the people, burn the houses, 
and dash away again, before any one can punish them. 

10. Farther north, a great country, called Siberia, 
which belongs to Russia, extends entirely across Asia, 
from east to west. This, like the northern part of 
Russia, contains a forest country, at the north of which 
are great plains, without trees, and covered with snow 
and ice nearly all the year. In the south there are rich 
gold-mines, and valleys and plains, where there might be 
fine farms if there were people to cultivate them. But 
most of the Russians living in Siberia work the mines, 
and the natives of the country wander from place to 
place with herds of reindeer. 

11. Journeys are made across this country, from 
Peking in China to St. Petersburg in Russia ; and 
tea, silk, furs, and many other things, are carried this 
immense distance. A large part of the Russians in 
Siberia are exiles, who were sent there by the govern- 
ment for some offence committed in their own country. 




THE INDIAN OCEAN, AND 
AUSTRALIA. 



Aus-tra'-li-a. i Mur'-ray. | kan-ga-roo' [kang-]. 

i. The Indian Ocean is south of Asia, and must be 
crossed in going from Asia or from Africa to Australia. 
Terrible hurricanes often occur on this ocean. One 
may be sailing in the morning with a pleasant breeze 
and clear sky, when suddenly he sees a small black 
cloud on the horizon. Soon it spreads, until it covers 
the whole heaven, the thunder begins to roll, and the 
lightning flashes at every moment. 

2. A terrific wind strikes the ship, the rain falls in 
torrents, and great waves rise like mountains of water. 
They dash themselves on the shore with a terrible roar- 
ing, covering it with the broken timbers of wrecked 
ships, and filling the air with white foam. 

3. In parts of this ocean, there is a kind of oyster 
within whose shell are found the beautiful pearls worn 
by ladies in necklaces and other ornaments. These can 
be obtained only by diving, and seeking the oyster at the 
bottom of the sea, a very difficult and dangerous work. 

4. Australia is the smallest of the continents, being 
only about the size of the United States. It is south of 
Asia, and a long way from it ; but the great islands of 
the Indies make a sort of bridge between them. Little 

180 



INDIAN OCEAN, AND AUSTRALIA. 



181 



is known of Australia, excepting the south-eastern parts. 
Here are low mountains in which large quantities of 
gold are found; and a broad, rich plain, with a fine 
river, called the Murray, flowing through it. 

5. There are some things very singular about Austra- 
lia. What would you 
think of seeing ani- 
mals like the kangaroo, 
which, instead of walk- 
ing squarely on four 
feet, as others do, goes 
hopping about on the 
tail and the two long 
hind-legs? And what 
would you think of 
seeing a forest of trees 
whose tough bark splits 

and falls Off every year, Kangaroo and Lyre Bird. 

instead of the leaves? and of others, covered with 
leaves, yet making not much more shadow than if they 
had none, for the edge of the leaf is toward the light ? 
Yet all these things may be seen in Australia, and 
many others no less strange. 

6. When white people first went to this continent, they 
found hardly any plants which they could use for food. 
But seeds have been taken there from other countries ; 
and now fields of wheat and corn and other grains, 
with orchards of peaches, pears, apples, and other fruits, 
grow in many parts. People are also beginning to plant 
cotton; but there are not enough farmers to plough 
and plant all the rich plain, and therefore much of it is 
used for the pasturage of sheep and cattle. 




THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 



i. The Pacific, which separates Asia and Australia 
from North and South America, is the largest of all the 
oceans. It covers nearly half of the surface of the 
globe with one vast expanse of water. In different 
parts of it are multitudes of islands besides the great 
ones near the continents. Many contain high moun- 
tains ; and some were built up by volcanoes throwing 
out substances from within the earth. 

2. But there are islands of still another sort in the 
Pacific Ocean. You may be sailing through the warm 
part of it, with nothing in sight but the broad blue 
waters and the sky, when presently you will discover, 
rising out of the sea before you, a grove of tall green 
palm-trees. It is very strange to see them there, for 
they appear to be growing directly from the waves. 
But when you are nearer, you find that they stand on 
a flat island just high enough to prevent being over- 
flowed. 

3. Under the palms the ground is covered with plants 
of the richest green, and between them and the waves 
is a broad beach of sand as white as snow. Presently 
you see that what seemed to be only a long narrow 
island is a perfect ring, with palm trees on all parts of 
it, and within, a clear, still lake of the blue sea-water. 

182 



THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 



183 



Such is Whitsunday Island. The Pacific has many of 
these flat islands, though not many just like this. 

4. The ships on the Pacific are nearly all from the 
United States and countries of Europe. They are 
going to China, India, Japan, and Australia, or return- 
ing with tea, coffee, and spices, silk, pearls, and gold. The 
island peoples 

of the Pacific 
have small odd- 
looking ves- 
sels, in which 
they go from 
place to place 
along their 
own coasts, but 
do not venture 
far out into the 
wide sea. If 
we sail across 
the Pacific 
from the strange shores of Asia and Australia, we can 
reach our own country. 

5. You have now visited all the most important coun- 
tries of the world. You have seen no two which are 
quite alike, but something interesting or pleasant has 
met you everywhere. You have learned just enough 
of the great earth to make you wish to know more ; and 
you will find a few important things, which you will be 
glad to learn, in Pabt Second. 




Whitsunday Island. 



184 GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 



THE CHILD'S WORLD. 

"Great, wide, beautiful, wonderful World, 
With the wonderful water round you curled, 
And the wonderful grass upon your breast, — 
World, you are beautifully drest. 

" The wonderful air is over me, 
And the wonderful wind is shaking the tree : 
It walks on the water, and whirls the mills, 
And talks to itself on the top of the hills. 

" You, friendly Earth ! how far do you go 
With the wheat-fields that nod and the rivers that flow, 
With cities and gardens, and cliffs and isles, 
And people upon you for thousands of miles ? 

" Ah, you are so great, and I am so small, 
I tremble to think of you, World, at all ; 
And yet, when I said nry prayers to-day, 
A whisper inside me seemed to say, — 

' You are more than the Earth, though you are such a dot 
You can love and think, and the Earth cannot.' " 

" Lilliput Lectures." 



Part II. 
GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



TO THE TEACHER. 



It will be observed that eacb lesson in Part II. consists of three 
distinct divisions. The Introduction serves to recall previously 
acquired ideas connected with the topic of the lesson, and to awaken 
interest in what follows. It should be carefully read, not memorized ; 
and the teacher should call attention to any important points. 

The large print is the lesson proper, which is to be memo- 
rized and recited in the usual way. The words in boldface indi- 
cate the leading idea of each paragraph. In the reviews, are questions 
upon the lessons which the teacher can use in recitation if desired. 

The Exercise is not a part of the lesson, to be studied before- 
hand, but only suggests a familiar talk between teacher and pupils 
after the recitation, such as all primary teachers are more or less 
accustomed to. The pupils are questioned to test their general com- 
prehension of the subject treated. The geographical names used in 
the lesson are found on the map, so that the succeeding Map-Lesson 
is made easy; and items of information are given, calculated to 
interest the pupils or to fix in mind the facts of the lesson. In 
short, this is the teacher's opportunity for oral instruction; and it 
may be extended at discretion, especially with reference to local or 
home geography. 

The Map-Lessons are to be recited from a wall-map, a black- 
board-map, or with no map in view, according to the judgment of 
the teacher. The Written Exercises and Eeviews occurring at 
frequent intervals add variety, and will be found of great value. 

By means of the Readings in Part I., bearing upon the subjects 
of successive lessons, and the variety of work presented in Part II., 
a constant interest will be maintained in classes, and the happiest 
results may be expected. 
186 



INTRODUCTION. 



I. -THE EARTH. 
(Part I., Pages 1-3.) 

In the preceding part of the book, you have been reading, 
making imaginary journeys all over the world. In this part, 
are lessons about the most important countries, to be studied 
and learned by heart. This is a different kind of work ; 
but you will find it just as pleasant, for you wish to become 
wise, and every lesson will help you a little in gaining a 
knowledge of the great world. 

The earth is the world on which we live. 

The shape of the earth is 
round, like an orange. 

The size of the earth is 
so great that to go round 
it one must travel two hun- 
dred and fifty miles a day, 
for one hundred days. 

The surface of the earth 
is composed of land and 
water. 

The water covers nearly 
three quarters of the sur- 
face, and is divided into 
oceans. The whole water- 
surface is called the sea. 

The land forms about one quarter of the surface. 

187 




A Globe. 



It 



188 



GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



is divided into large masses, called continents, and small 
bodies, called islands. 

Exercise. — How far is it round the earth ? How many- 
weeks in the hundred days spent in going round it ? How many 
months ? Do you see more land, or more water, on the earth ? 
How do people make the land useful ? What use is made of the 
sea? Would you think there would be more sea than land? 
Why do you think so? If there were three parts of land to one 
part of water, the land would be much less pleasant than it is. 
Some time you will understand this. The picture in this lesson 
shows you the shape of the earth. The two dark, rough-looking 
places represent continents ; the rest, oceans. 



II. -REPRESENTATIONS OF THE EARTH. 

It is not very easy to learn how the continents and oceans 
are situated on the earth, nor where the different countries 
are, unless there is some way of showing these things to our 




El* ^ ^ 



^■B 



Balloon View of New York and Vicinity. 



eyes. For this reason people have contrived ways of repre- 
senting the earth, to help in learning geography. 



REPRESENTATIONS OF THE EARTH. 



189 



The earth is represented both by globes and maps. 
A globe is a ball with drawings upon it, to represent 
the continents and oceans as they appear on the earth. 



^l 




NEW YORK 

AND VICINITY 



A map is a drawing which represents any part of the 
surface of the earth. 

A hemisphere-map represents one-half of the earth's 
surface. 

The colors on the large maps in this book show how 
the land is divided into continents, and the continents 
into countries. 

Exercise. — Here is a view of New York and the country 
around it, as one would see it looking down from a balloon. 
There are the two great cities, the smaller cities scattered about, 
the river, the bay, the ocean, and the islands. Next comes a 
map of the same country. It does not show any of these things 
as they look in nature, but has on]y lines and marks to stand for 
them, with a name beside each to show what it represents. Which 
is prettiest to look at, — the balloon view, or the map ? What can 
you learn from the map which the view does not show ? Read the 
names of all the objects represented on this map. Which city have 
you read about ? Which river? What can you remember about 
them? Can you make a map of your schoolroom? Try it. 



190 



GEOGBAPHICAL PBIMEE. 



III.— DIRECTION ON MAPS AND GLOBES. 

Map-makers put on the globe and on maps, two sets of 
lines to enable us to see the direction of places and countries 
from each other, as well as their location. They are north- 
and- south lines, and east- and- west lines. On the globe, as 
the picture of the hemispheres shows, the north- and- south 
lines all meet in two points. 




The Earth in Hemispheres. 

Directions are shown on maps and globes by two sets 
of lines crossing each other. 

North-ancl-south lines cross the map from top to bot- 
tom, and are called meridians. 

On the globe the meridians all meet in two points, 
the North Pole and the South Pole. 

The east-and-west lines cross the map from side to 
side, and are called parallels. 

The line extending around the globe, half way be- 
tween the poles, is the Equator. 

Toward the top of the map, along a meridian, is 
north; toward the bottom, south. 



DISTANCES ON MAPS. 191 



Toward the right hand, along a parallel, is east; 
toward the left, west. 

Exercise. — Turn to the hemisphere-maps (pp. 194, 195). What 
continents are shown upon each? What oceans? Find the Equa- 
tor ; the meridians ; the parallels. Trace a line directly north and 
south across the map. Trace a line directly east and west. In 
what direction is Europe from Asia? Asia from Australia? 
Africa from Europe ? Australia from Europe ? Africa from Asia ? 
South America from North America? On p. 190 is a picture of 
the hemispheres : find in it the meridians ; the parallels ; the Xorth 
Pole ; the South Pole ; the Equator. Can you tell the names of 
the continents and oceans in the picture ? 



IV. -DISTANCE ON MAPS AND GLOBES. 

Distance on maps and globes is shown by numbers upon 
the parallels and meridians. You know that along some 
railroads you see mile-posts, from time to time, with num- 
bers upon them giving the distance in miles from some 
important place. 

But on globes and maps distances are marked in degrees, 
not miles. A degree (written 1°) is one three hundred and 
sixtieth part of the whole distance around the earth. Dis- 
tance north or south is always reckoned from the Equator. 
Distance east or west is reckoned from some meridian agreed 
upon, which is named the prime meridian. 

Distance from the Equator is called latitude. Places 
north of the Equator are in north latitude; those south, 
in south latitude. 

Distance from the prime meridian is called longitude. 
Places east of the prime meridian are in east longitude ; 
those west, in west lougitude. 



192 GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



Each parallel is marked with the number of degrees 
of latitude between it and the Equator. 

Each meridian is marked with the number of degrees 
of longitude between it and the prime meridian. 

The Equator and the prime meridian are marked 
0, because they are the lines from which reckoning 
begins. 

Exercise. — Turn to the map of the Eastern Hemisphere. 
What figure is against the Equator, in the border of this map? 
Find the meridian marked 0. Why are these two lines marked 
? Read the numbers on the meridians east of the prime merid- 
ian. Read the numbers on the parallels north of the Equator. 
What do these numbers show? Is North America in east, or 
west, longitude ? Is it in north, or south, latitude ? 



V.- REVIEW. 



I. What is the shape of the earth ? How large is it ? Of what 
does its surface consist ? How much of it is land ? How much is 
water ? What is the whole water-surface called ? How is the water 
divided? How is the land divided? What is geography ? 

II. How is the earth represented for study ? What is a globe ? 
What is a map ? What do the hemisphere-maps show ? What are 
the colors on the maps for ? 

III. How is direction shown on maps? What are the north- 
and-south lines called ? The east-and-west lines ? Where do the 
meridians meet? Where is the Equator? Which way on the map 
is north? East? South? West? 

IV. How is distance shown on maps ? What is a degree ? 
What is latitude? North latitude? South latitude? What is 
longitude ? East longitude ? West longitude ? What does the 
number on each parallel show ? On each meridian ? How are the 
Equator and the prime meridian marked ? Why ? 



CONTINENTS, ISLANDS, AND OCEANS. 193 



VI. -CONTINENTS, ISLANDS, AND OCEANS. 

You have already noticed how the sea is divided into 
oceans, and the land into continents and islands. You will 
see on the globe, that all the great islands are near the bor- 
ders of the continents ; but there are very many little ones 
far away in the midst of the oceans. The continents and 
islands contain countries, and are the homes of people. The 
oceans afford routes of travel and trade between the countries 
on their borders. 

There are six continents. Europe, Asia, Africa, and 
Australia are in the Eastern Hemisphere ; North Amer- 
ica and South America, in the Western. 

The largest continent is Asia, but Europe and North 
America have the richest and most important countries. 

The largest islands are New Guinea and Borneo, be- 
tween Asia and Australia ; but the richest and most 
powerful is Great Britain, near the coast of Europe. 

There are five oceans. The Pacific is the largest. 
All the most important countries border on the Atlantic 
or its arms, and the most travel and trade cross it. The 
others are the Indian, Arctic, and Antarctic Oceans. 

Exercise. — Turn to the Hemisphere Maps. What continents, 
in each hemisphere, border upon the Pacific Ocean ? The Atlantic 
Ocean ? What continents border upon the Indian Ocean ? The 
Arctic ? The Antarctic ? Which of all these oceans border upon 
our own country ? Which ocean do we use most ? What use do 
we make of it ? 

The girls may write what we would see in crossing the Atlantic ; 
the boys write how, where, and for what, whales are caught. 
(Pages 110-112.) 



WESTERN HEMISPHERE. 

What continents are in the Western hemisphere ? 
What oceans are partly in the Western hemisphere ? 
In which continent is the United States ? 




In what direction from us is South America ? 

In what direction from South America are we ? 

In what direction from us is each of the oceans ? 

Which continent is crossed by the Equator ? 

Is North America in north latitude, or in south latitude ? Why? 

194 



EASTERN HEMISPHERE. 

What continents are in the eastern hemisphere ? 

"What ocean is wholly in this hemisphere ? What ones partly ? 

What continent is crossed by the Equator ? 




Which continents are in north latitude ? 

In what latitude is most of Africa? 

In "what latitude is Australia ? 

In what direction from Europe is Asia ? Africa ? Australia ? 

What oceans touch Europe ? Asia ? Africa ? Australia ? 

195 



196 



GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



VII. -BORDER LANDS AND WATERS. 

"When you notice the map of North America, you see that 
a very crooked line marks its borders. In some places the 
land juts out into the ocean, so that parts of it are nearly 




1. Mountain. 

6. Bay. 



2. Plain. 3. Island. 4. Cap 

7. Harbor. 8. River. 



5. Peninsula. 
9. Strait. 



separated from the rest. In other places, parts of the oceans 
run into the land so that they seem almost like lakes. There 
are small points of land here and there, and there is a long 
narrow neck connecting North America with South America. 



LAND-SURFACE. 197 



The land which borders upon the water is called the 
coast or shore. 

A peninsula is a part of the coast land nearly sur- 
rounded by water. 

A cape is a point of land projecting into the water. 

An isthmus is a narrow neck of land connecting two 
bodies of land. 

Parts of the oceans which lie within or among the 
lands are called gulfs, bays, and seas. 

Narrow passages of water, connecting bodies of water, 
are called straits, channels, and sounds. The shallow 
passages are the ones usually called sounds. 

Exercise. — Turn to the map of North America (p. 243). Point 
to any part of the coast. Name all the gulfs, bays, and seas which 
you find along the coast. What straits can you find ? What waters 
does each connect ? What isthmus can you find ? W T hat lands does 
it connect ? Name all the capes which you see ; the peninsulas ; 
the islands. Name the lands and waters in the picture opposite. 
W T hat harbor (p. 40) have you read about ? Where is New York 
Harbor ? 



VIII. - LAND-SURFACE. 
(Part I., Pages 20, 65, 66.) 

In parts of our country, we have seen wide plains, some 
with a level surface, and some covered with low hills. Else- 
where the land is lifted up into great mountain-ranges with 
valleys between them ; or it forms wide table-lands so dry 
as to be almost deserts. All these different lands are use- 
ful. Some are good for tillage and pasturage, some afford 
fine forests, and others contain rich minerals. 

Hills are parts of the land but little higher than the 
surrounding country. Mountains are very high lands. 



198 GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



A long ridge of mountain land is a mountain-range. 

Many ranges connected make a mountain-system. 

A valley is a narrow tract of land between higher lands. 

A plain is an extended region of level land. Some 
plains are quite flat, others have a rolling surface. 

A high plain is called a table-land, or plateau. Some 
table-lands are surrounded by mountains. 

Exercise. — What plains in the United States have you read 
about? What mountains do you remember? Find these on the 
map (p. 243) of North America. Do you remember the highest 
mountains in the world (p. 176)? The highest peak is Mount 
Everest, more than five and one-half miles high. There is a pic- 
ture of it on p. 177. Find it. What kinds of land are shown in 
the picture on p. 7? 16? 30? 47? 



IX. -THE WATER UPON THE LAND. 
(Part I., Pages 23-29.) 

You know that some of the rain, as it falls, sinks into 
the ground, and makes springs. Brooks flow from springs, 
making rivers and lakes ; and rivers find their way from the 
highlands, through the valleys and across the plains, to the 
sea. Did you know that the water is only seeking its own 
home? That which feeds the springs, and makes the lakes 
and streams, once rose from the sea as vapor, and floated 
away over the land to produce rain-clouds. This is one 
benefit that comes from there being more sea than land on 
the earth, for so the land gets more moisture. 

A spring- is water flowing from within the ground. 
Springs are the sources of brooks and rivers. 

Brooks are small streams of water ; rivers are large 
streams. 



THE WATER UPON THE LAND. 



199 



Tributaries are the streams which flow into a river. 

Towards the source, or beginning, is up stream ; and 
towards the opposite end, or mouth, is down stream. 

The banks of a stream are the ground along each 
side of it. The right bank is the one on the right hand 




Lake Champlain. 

of a person facing down stream. The other one is the 
left bank. 

A lake is a body of water in a hollow of the land. 
Most lakes are fresh, but some are salt like the sea. 

Exercise. — Turn to the map of North America (p. 243). Find 
Lake Superior ; some other great lakes. How are they represented ? 
Find the Mississippi River. How are rivers represented ? What 
other rivers can you find ? Where is the source of the Missouri ? 
Where does the water of the Missouri find the ocean ? 



200 GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



X.- REVIEW. 

VI. How many continents are there? Name those in each 
hemisphere. Which is the largest ? Which have the most impor- 
tant countries ? What and where are the largest two islands ? 
What and where is the most rich and powerful island ? How many- 
oceans are there? Name them. Which is the largest? Which 
is most important ? Why is the Atlantic important ? 

VII. What is the coast? A peninsula? A cape? An isth- 
mus? What are parts of the ocean extending into the land 
called ? What are narrow passages of water called ? • How do the 
sounds differ from other passages of water ? 

VIII. What are hills? Mountains? What is a mountain- 
range? A mountain-system? A valley? A plain? A table- 
land ? What kinds of surface have plains ? What is the highest 
mountain-system in the world ? What is the highest peak ? How 
high is it? 

IX. What is a spring ? A brook ? A river ? A tributary 
stream ? A lake ? What is meant by up stream ? Down stream ? 
What is the source of a stream ? The mouth ? The banks ? The 
right and the left bank ? What kind of water is in lakes ? 

Write all you remember about the Mississippi, — where its source 
is, what great tributaries it has, and what sort of country is along 
its course. 



XL -CLIMATE AND ZONES. 

(Part I., Pages 76-78, 92, 99.) 

On the Amazon, you know, there is constant summer. 
Our country has summer during a part of the year, and win- 
ter about as long. The Arctic shores have winter nearly 
all the time. Some countries have a moist air, and others 
are very dry ; while in some the air is so impure as to make 
people sick. In describing these conditions, we use the word 
climate. South America has a hot climate, our country has a 



THE PLANTS AND ANIMALS. 201 



temperate climate, and the Arctic 'shores have a cold climate. 
Countries alike in climate are situated about the same dis- 
tance from the Equator : so we think of them as forming 
belts, or zones, around the earth. There are four parallels, 
with names, which mark the boundaries of the zones. 

The climate of a country is the state of the air. It 
may be warm, cold, or temperate ; moist or dry, healthy 
or unhealthy. 

The hottest countries lie on and near the Equator, 
and form the Torrid (burning) Zone. It extends from 
the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn. 

The temperate countries form two Temperate Zones. 
The northern extends from the Tropic of Cancer to the 
Arctic Circle ; the southern, from the Tropic of Capri- 
corn to the Antarctic Circle. 

The very cold regions form two Frigid (frozen) 
Zones. The northern extends from the Arctic Circle 
to the North Pole ; the southern, from the Antarctic 
Circle to the South Pole. 

Exercise. — Turn to the map of Hemispheres. Find the Equa- 
tor and the four named parallels. In which zone is our country ? 
Most of Africa? Of South America? Of Europe and Asia? 
Which zones have most land ? Which zone has least ? In which 
would you rather live ? Why? What climate is there at the foot 
(p. 99) of the Andes? On their middle slopes? At the top? 
Climate always grows cooler from the bottom to the top of moun- 
tains, as well as from the Equator towards the Poles. 



XII. -THE PLANTS AND ANIMALS. 

(Part L, Pages 93-97.) 

Nowhere are there such great forests, such brilliant flowers, 
so many choice fruits and rich spices, as in the selvas of the 



202 



GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



Amazon and in the Indies. The Torrid Zone has no winter 
to stop the growth of plants, but plenty of heat and moisture 
to perfect them. Beyond this zone, plants become fewer and 
less luxuriant until, in the Frigid Zone, there are hardly any 
but mosses. The Torrid Zone, too, has the largest and most 
dangerous wild beasts and serpents, and the most brilliant 
birds and insects. In the Temperate Zone most of the wild 
animals are harmless, many of the birds sing, and few in- 
sects are poisonous. 



yQRTH FRIGID, 




SOUTH FRIGID. 



The Zones. 

Plants groAv most luxuriantly in the Torrid Zone. 
Coffee, sugar-cane, sjDices, and many delicate fruits 
belong to this zone. 



RACES OF MEN. 203 



In the Temperate Zone plants stop growing in winter, 
and most trees lose their leaves. Most of the cultivated 
plants are native to the North Temperate Zone. 

The Frigid Zone has few plants except mosses. 

Wild animals are most numerous, largest, and most 
dangerous in the Torrid Zone, and the birds and insects 
are most brilliant. 

The domestic animals nearly all originated in the 
North Temperate Zone. 

The Frigid Zone has few large land-animals, but the 
greatest creatures of the sea are found there. 

Exercise. — The picture on the opposite page shows some 
plants and animals in the different zones. Name some in the 
Torrid Zone. Have you seen any of these, or any others of that 
zone? What animals of our country have you seen most? Do 
you see any of them in the picture? In what zone are they? 
Because they are tamed, and accustomed to live among men, they 
are called domestic animals. What animals do you see in the South 
Temperate Zone ? In the Frigid Zones ? What makes the Torrid 
Zone best for plants ? 

XIII. -RACES OP MEN. 
In our country, are white men and negroes, reddish-brown 
Indians, and a few yellowish-brown Chinese and Japanese. 
On the islands of the Pacific, are blackish-brown people, and 
in Australia black people. On account of such differences 
among them, mankind are divided into races. 

There are six races of men, — one white, three brown- 
ish, and two black. 

The white race are the native people of Europe and 
Western Asia ; but they have spread over America and 
parts of the other continents. This is the most powerful 
race, and has made most improvement. 



204 GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



The yellowish-brown people belong to Japan, China, 
and the rest of Eastern Asia. 
They are called the yellow, or 
Mongolian, race. 

The blackish-brown people 
live on the islands of the Pacific. 
They are called the brown race, 
or Malays. 

The reddish-brown, or cop- 
per-colored people, are the In- 
dians of America. They are 

One of the White or Ruling Race. _ , .. 

called the red race. 
The black races belong to Africa and Australia. The 
first negroes of our country came from Africa. 

Exercise. — You have seen persons belonging to the white 
race : what other races have you seen ? Think of one person of 
each race that you have seen, and write all about him. Tell 
whether he is a large or a small person, the color of his skin and 
eyes, what sort of hair he has, any thing singular about the shape 
of his head and features, and what sort of dress he wears. 




XIV. - CIVILIZED MEN. 
(Part I., Pages 60-63.) 

In our country, in Europe, and in other parts of the 
world, are states, kingdoms, and empires, with rich cities and 
educated people who busy themselves about many different 
things. These are civilized nations. 

In Africa, and some other countries, are men who get all 
their food and clothing from the wild plants and animals, 
and know how to build only the rudest huts for shelter. 
These are savages. In still other countries the people 



CIVILIZED MEN. 



205 



till the soil, or raise cattle, instead of supplying their wants 
only from wild plants and animals. They build better houses, 
and know how to make many things ; but they have neither 
books nor schools for the improvement of their minds. Such 
are barbarous people. They are often as cruel and warlike 
as the savages. 

Civilized men supply their wants chiefly by agricul- 
ture, manufacturing", and commerce. 

In countries on the sea-coast, they also engage in 
fishing ; where there are fine forests, in lumbering ; and 







Commerce. 

where there are valuable beds of stone or other min- 
erals, in quarrying and mining. 

Agriculture is tilling the soil, and raising plants and 
animals, to procure materials for food and clothing. 



206 GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



Manufacturing" is making articles from raw materials. 
Most things obtained by agriculture must be manufac- 
tured before they are fit for use. 

Commerce is buying and selling, or exchanging goods. 
Some countries can better produce one thing, and some 
another. By commerce, each can obtain the productions 
of all. 

Exercise. — These are but few of the things civilized people 
do : name some classes of persons who do other things. (Artists, 
who spend their time in making beautiful things ; preachers and 
teachers, who instruct the people; lawyers, doctors, authors, etc.) 
Name the materials we use most for food ; for clothing ; for shelter. 
How do we get them ? Name some of the things we obtain only 
by commerce. From what countries do they come ? What business 
is shown in the picture on the preceding page ? On p. 30 ? 36 ? 
49? Which business would you prefer? Why? The pictures on 
pp. 64, 80, and 165 show savage life. Would you like it ? 



XV. -REVIEW. 



XL What is climate ? How many zones are there ? Where is 
the Torrid Zone? Each Temperate Zone? Each Frigid Zone? 
How does climate change from the Equator to the Poles ? From 
the bottom to the top of mountains? 

XII. In what zone are plants most luxuriant ? In what zones 
least so? To what zone do most of our cultivated plants belong? 
Where are wild animals largest and most dangerous ? In which 
were the domestic animals native ? What sort of animals live in 
the Frigid Zone ? 

XIII. How many races are there? What are their colors? 
Where are the white race ? The yellow race ? The brown race ? 
The red race ? Where are the black races ? 

XIV. How do civilized nations supply their wants? Define 
agriculture ; manufacturing ; commerce. How do savages supply 
their wants ? Barbarous people ? 



NORTH AMERICA, 



XVI.— THE UNITED STATES. 

(Pakt I., Pages 8-12, 17-19, 63-69.) 

In imaginary journeys we crossed the Atlantic Plain in 
New Jersey, seeing its fine farms ; and the Appalachian 
Mountains in Pennsylvania, noticing the abundance of iron 
and coal ; then entered the rich, rolling Central Plain in 




A Western Farm. 

Ohio. We descended the Mississippi, passing prairie farms, 
cotton-fields and sugar-plantations. We crossed the Rocky 
Mountains, the barren Table-land, and the Sierra Nevada, 
with their treasures of gold and silver, and through wide, 
fruitful valleys reached the Pacific. 

207 



208 GEOGBAPHICAL PRIMER. 



The United States is in the middle of North America. 
It extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, and 
from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. 

The Atlantic Plain is on the eastern side, bordering 
upoD the Atlantic Ocean. 

The Appalachian Mountains lie next, extending from 
the northern boundary nearly to the southern. 

The Central Plain fills the middle, reaching from 
the Appalachian to the Rocky Mountains. 

The Table-land and the mountain-systems that form 
its borders occupy the western part of the country. Be- 
yond them are only valleys and low coast-ranges. 

Exercise. — (Open books to map of United States.) Across 
what three States (pp. 8, 20) were our first journeys ? Find these 
States. Find the cities noticed in them. How (see map, left-hand 
lower corner) are the cities marked on the map? Why, then, is 
Trenton marked differently from Cincinnati? What region, .is 
between the Appalachian and the Rocky Mountains ? The Central 
Plain is the richest division of our country : it is also the largest. 
Write all you remember about the surface of the Central Plain. 



XVII. -CLIMATE OF THE UNITED STATES. 
(Part I., Pages 10, 33-37.) 

You know how much warmer the southern part of our 
country is than the northern. The southernmost points reach 
nearly to the tropic, and are almost as warm as the Torrid 
Zone. But the western half is very unlike the eastern in 
moisture. You remember how productive the country is 
throughout the East, how dry it becomes towards the Rocky 
Mountains, and how barren the Table-land is. But beyond 
the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains are rich valleys, 
with plenty of rain. 



DIVISIONS OF THE UNITED STATES. 209 



The United States is in the southern half of the 
North Temperate Zone. 

The climate of the northern border is cool, winter 
lasting several months. Towards the south it becomes 
warmer, and the southern border has hardly any winter. 

Rain is abundant in the eastern half of the country, 
but the high lands in the western half are generally 
quite dry. The Pacific coast lands have rain enough, 
and are warmer than the Atlantic coasts. 

The cultivated plants vary with the climate, wheat 
growing to the extreme north. Farther south are corn, 
tobacco, and the vine ; then cotton and rice ; and, in the 
southernmost parts, sugar-cane, figs, and oranges. 

Exercise. — (Open books to map of United States.) Name the 
northern divisions of the country west of Lake Huron ; the northern- 
most State on the Atlantic coast. What parallel crosses these divis- 
ions ? Where is this parallel on the globe ? (Half way from the 
Equator to the North Pole.) Name the two southernmost States. 
What parallel is near their southern points ? Find the southernmost 
point of California : what city on the Atlantic coast is just opposite 
this ? You see that the Pacific coast is opposite the middle and 
northern part of the Atlantic coast, but it is as warm as the middle 
and southern part. Find the meridian of 100° west longitude ; all 
the dry, barren lands lie west of it. 



XVIII. -DIVISIONS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The eastern half of the United States contains a much 
larger population than the western. Near the Rocky Moun- 
tains and on most of the Table-land beyond, the ground 
will not produce enough to support a population ; but most 
things that are needed must be brought from long distances 
with great trouble. So not many people have gone to these 



210 GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



high lands, except where gold and silver can be obtained. 
The Territories are great divisions of country which do not 
yet contain people enough to make States. 

The United States is divided into thirty-eight States 
and nine Territories. 

All the States but four lie east of the Rocky Moun- 
tains. Colorado is crossed by these mountains. Nevada 
is on the Table-land ; and California and Oregon are on 
the Pacific coast. 

The Territories, excepting two, lie among the Rocky 
Mountains, or west of them. Two are in the Central 
Plain. 

The District of Columbia, in which Washington is 
situated, belongs to the Government. 

Alaska, in the north-west corner of North America, 
belongs to the United States. It was bought of Russia. 

Exercise. — (Open books to map of United States.) Read the 
names of all the Territories. Read the names of all the States that 
touch the Atlantic ; the Gulf of Mexico ; the Pacific ; the Missis- 
sippi ; the Missouri; the Ohio. What other States are there ? Copy 
the names of all the States. 



XIX. -GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

In the United States the rulers and law-makers of the 
nation are all chosen by the people. Such a government is 
a Republic. The highest officer is the President. There are 
two bodies of men, who unite to make the laws. They are 
together called the Congress: one body is the Senate, and 
the other is the House of Representatives. 

Every State sends two of its citizens to the Senate, and 
one or more to the House ; and every State takes part in 
choosing the President, so that all have a share in governing 



GOVEBNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 211 



the country. The President lives at Washington, and Con- 
gress meets there : thus it is the seat of government. 

The United States is a republic. It contains over 
fifty millions of people. The President is the highest 
officer of the Government. 




Faneuil Hall, Boston, —the Old "Cradle of Liberty." 

The laws are made by Congress, which meets every 
year. Congress consists of a Senate and a House of 
Representatives. 

The Senate is composed of two senators from each 
State. 

The House consists of representatives from each 




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214 . GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



State. The number each State sends, depends upou its 
population. 

The seat of government of a country is called the 
capital. Wasbing-toii is the capital of the United 

States. 

Exercise. — "Who is now President? What President died in 
1881 ? Who took his place ? How did Mr. Arthur become Vice- 
president? (The people chose him.) When Qneen Victoria dies, 
who will succeed her ? (Her son inherits the office.) Where the 
chief ruler inherits his office, the government is a monarchy. Eng- 
land is a monarchy. The picture on p. 211 shows you a famous 
old building in Boston. It is called " The Cradle of American 
Liberty," on account of the spirited public meetings held there 
during the exciting times of the Revolutionary War. 



XX. -REVIEW. 



XVI. Where is the United States ? How far does it extend ? 
What regions compose the country ? Where is the Atlantic Plain ? 
The Appalachian system? The Central Plain? The Table-land? 
What mountain-systems border the Table-land (p. 66)? What lies 
west of the Sierra system ? 

XVII. In what zone is the United States ? Describe the climate. 
In what parts of the country is rain abundant? Which part is 
dry ? Which is warmer, the Atlantic or Pacific coast ? Name some 
cultivated plants in the north, the middle, and the south. 

XVIII. How many States in the Union ? How many Territo- 
ries? In which part are most of the States? The Territories? 
Where is the District of Columbia? Alaska? How did Alaska 
become ours? 

XIX. What is the government of the United States? "What is 
the population ? What is a republic ? "What is the highest officer ? 
By what body are the laws made ? Of what does Congress con- 
sist ? How is the Senate composed ? The House ? "What is the 
capital of the United States ? What is the capital of any country ? 



NEW ENGLAND. 215 



(Map of United States.) What two oceans border upon 
the United States ? What country at the north ? What gulf and 
country at the south ? W T hat system of mountains in the eastern 
part ? What two systems in the western part ? Name the greatest 
river in the United States ; its greatest two tributaries ; two long 
rivers west of the Rocky Mountains ; five great lakes north of the 
Ohio ; a salt lake west of the Rocky Mountains. 

Name the Territories. Which two are farthest east? Name the 
States bordering upon the Atlantic ; upon the Gulf of Mexico ; 
upon the Pacific ; upon the Mississippi ; upon the Missouri ; upon 
the Ohio; upon the Great Lakes. Which States do not border 
upon any of these waters ? Name the northernmost State of the 
Union ; the southernmost two States. 



XXI. -NEW ENGLAND. 
(Part I., Pages 59-61.) 

You have already learned much about this part of our 
country. A brave captain from England, who explored it 
when it was all a wilderness, called it New England, in honor 
of his own country across the Atlantic. The first white 
settlers are called " the Pilgrim Fathers." They were Eng- 
lish people, and came over in a ship named "The May- 
flower" in the j 7 ear 1620. Their landing-place was at 
Plymouth, on the coast of Massachusetts. 

New England contains six States, — Maine, New 
Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
and Connecticut. 

The country is rough, but beautiful. The river- 
valleys and a part of the coast are the only level 
lands. 

There are no very high mountains. The White 
Mountains, in New Hampshire, are the highest ; and the 
Green Mountains, in Vermont, are the longest range. 



216 GEOGRAPHICAL PBIMEB. 



The lakes are quite small, and the rivers are short 
and full of rapids and falls. Moosehead is the largest 
lake, and the Connecticut is the longest river. 




A New England Homestead. 

The climate is cool. The winters are long, but the 
summers are very pleasant. 

Exercise. — (Open books to map of New England.) Find the 
States, mountains, river, and lake named in this lesson. Tell what 
surrounds Maine, beginning at the north. This is called bound- 
ing Maine. Bound each State. Find an island belonging to 
Maine ; two islands belonging to Massachusetts. 



XXII. -BUSINESS AND CITIES. 

New England is not a great farming country ; for the 
rough, stony land is hard to till, and many of the people 
prefer to get a living in some other way. Vermont is the 
only State where farming is the chief business. The others 
take advantage of their rapid streams for driving mill- 
wheels,, and their fine harbors for commerce. Besides these 



BUSINESS AND CITIES. 



217 



occupations, Maine produces lumber, and builds ships, and 
Massachusetts sends many men to the fisheries. Vermont 
furnishes marble, and other States granite. Massachusetts 
and Rhode Island are more densely peopled than any other 
States in the Union. 

The leading- occupations in New England are manu- 
facturing and commerce. Massachusetts, Rhode Isl- 
and, and Connecticut manufacture most, and have the 
largest cities. Massachusetts has most commerce. 




A Manufacturing Village. 



Boston is the largest city in New England. It has 
nearly four hundred thousand inhabitants, and is next 
to New York in the extent of its commerce. 



218 GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



Providence, the second, is a large manufacturing 
city. New Haven is the seat of Yale College. 

Lowell is famous for its cotton-mills, and Worcester 
for its machinery. Cambridge contains Harvard Uni- 
versity, the oldest college in New England. 

Exercise. — (Open books to map of New England.) Which 
two States have the most seacoast ? How do they make it useful ? 
How does the map show the largest city in a State ? (The name has 
a line drawn under it.) How the capital? One State has two 
capitals : which is it ? What are they ? How is Newport situated ? 
Find all the cities named in the lesson. Which of these are capitals? 
Find the other capital cities. Find a bay on the coast ; a sound ; two 
capes ; four islands near the coast. Find two lakes ; the five rivers 
which look the longest. 



XXIII. -MAP LESSON. 

Note. — To locate an island, tell its direction from the nearest 
coast; mountains or lakes, tell in what part, of what State, each is; 
rivers, tell where each rises, the course it takes, and the water into 
which it flows; cities, tell what and how situated each is. Thus: 
Portland, the largest city in Maine, is situated in the south-eastern 
part of the State, on the coast. 

Bound . Locate. 

Maine. Mount Desert Island, Moose'-head Lake, Pe- 

nob'-scot Elver, Ken-ne-bec' River, Au-gus'- 

ta, Port'-land. 
New Hamp'-shire. White Mountains, Mer'-ri-mac River, Con'-cord, 

Man'-ches-ter. 
Ver'-mont. Green Mountains, Lake Champlain, Mont-pe'- 

lier, Burlington. 
Mas-sa-chu'-setts. Cape Cod, Cape Ann, Nan-tuck'-et, Martha's 

Vineyard, Boston, Lo'-well, Wor'-ces-ter 
( Woos'-ter), Cam'-bridge. 
Connecticut. Long Island Sound, Con-nect'-i-cut River, Hart'- 

ford, New Haven. 
Rhode Island. Nar-ra-gan'-sett Bay, Prov'-i-dence, New'-port. 




NEW ENGLAND 
STATES 

® Capitals ° Cities. Towns 



Longitude "West 



220 GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



XXIV. -REVIEW. 

XXI. How many States in Xew England? Name them. 
When and where was the first settlement ? What sort of country 
is New England ? Where are the level lands ? What and where 
are the highest mountains ? What and where the longest range ? 
What is peculiar about the lakes and streams ? Name the largest 
lake ; the longest river. What is the climate of New England? 

XXII. What are the leading occupations in New England? 
What else is done ? What State makes farming most important ? 
Which States lead in manufacturing? Which are most densely 
peopled ? Which have the largest cities ? What is the largest city 
in New England?- The second in size? What is interesting 
about New Haven ? Lowell ? Worcester ? Cambridge ? 

XXIII. Write the names of the States, mountains, rivers, and 
cities learned in Lesson XXIII. 



XXV. -MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES. 
(Part I., Pages 37-47.) 

These are the States which lie west and south of New 
England, in the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic 
Plain. They are rich in farming land, water-power, and 
beds of coal and iron. The English made their first settle- 
ment this side of the Atlantic, near the mouth of James 
River, in 1607 ; and the Dutch at the mouth of the Hudson, 
seven years later. 

The Middle Atlantic States are seven,- — New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Vir- 
ginia, and West Virginia. 

Mountains extend from North-eastern New York to 
South-western Virginia. The Adirondacks are the 
highest ; and the Alleghany range is the longest. 



BUSINESS AND CITIES. 



221 



There are rich farming- lands on both sides of the 

mountain-region, and in 
the valleys within it. 

The Hudson is the most 
important river; but the 
Ohio begins in Western 
Pennsylvania. There are 
many lakes in New York. 
climate, in New 
is much like that 
England ; but 
m the summer 
grows longer, 
and the win- 
ter is milder, 
towards the 
___ south. 

Locks on the Erie Canal, at Lockport. 

Exercise. — (Open books to map of Middle Atlantic States.) 
Find the states, mountains, and rivers named in this lesson. What 
rivers do you see, about which you have read? Find James River. 
What makes James River interesting ? Find Lake Ontario ; Niag- 
ara River. What do you know (pp. 51, 52) about them? Who 
made the first settlement in New York, and where ? The picture 
shows you some " locks " in the Erie Canal: what have you read 
about this canal? The locks are built to enable boats to 
from one level in the bed of the canal to another. 




XXVI. -BUSINESS AND CITIES. 
(Part I., Pages 12, 19, 37, 46, 62.) 

This is a better farming region than New England ; for 
there is more good land, and the climate is warmer. The four 



222 



GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



southern are chiefly farming States, raising grain, tobacco, 
and fruits. In the other three, manufacturing, mining, and 
commerce are also very important. Long Island and Central 
New Jersey are hardly more than vast gardens for supplying 
the great cities with fruits and vegetables. The mountain- 
forests occupy many people in lumbering ; and large num- 
bers work at the oyster-beds and other coast fisheries. 

Agriculture, t mining, manufacturing, and commerce 
are the leading occupations. Pennsylvania leads in 
mining, New York in manufacturing and commerce. 




Newark, N.J. 

The three northern States in this group, and the three 
southern in New England, constitute the leading manu- 
facturing and commercial region in the United States, 

Many of the greatest cities of the Union are in the 
Middle Atlantic States. New York and Philadelphia 
are the largest in the Western Hemisphere. 

New York contains more than a million of people. 
Tts commerce extends to nearly all important countries, 
and it has a great amount of other business. 



REVIEW. 223 



Brooklyn is on Long Island, opposite New York. 
Many persons live there, and do business in New York. 

Philadelphia is as famous for manufacturing as New 
York for commerce. It has more than three-fourths of 
a million of people. 

Baltimore is a great market for tobacco and grain. 

The other large cities are Pittsburg, Buffalo, Wash- 
ington, Newark, and Jersey City. But there are many 
fine cities of smaller size. 

Exercise. — (Open books to map of Middle Atlantic States.) 
What great water route (p. 46) crosses New York ? Where does it 
reach the coast? What cities are there for the gardens of Long 
Island and New Jersey to supply ? Find each of the great cities 
named in this lesson. What have you read about the first four? 
About the next three? On the opposite page you see a part of 
Newark, with its smoking factory chimneys. Like Pittsburg, it is 
a famous place for manufacturing. Jersey City is situated like 
Brooklyn, with only a river separating it from New York. Find 
the capital of each State ; of the United States. 



XXVII. - REVIEW. 

XXV. Name the Middle Atlantic States. When and where 
were the first settlements in these States? What part of this 
region is mountainous? Name the highest mountains; the prin- 
cipal range. Where are the good farming lands ? Name the most 
important rivers. What large river begins in Pennsylvania? What 
State has most lakes ? Describe the climate. 

XXVI. What are the chief occupations ? Which are mostly 
farming States? What do they raise? What States form the 
greatest manufacturing and commercial region in the country? 
What State leads in these occupations ? In mining ? What great 
cities are there in these States ? Which two are largest ? What 
have you learned about New York? About Philadelphia? Brook- 
lyn? Baltimore? Name the other large cities in these States. 



224 



GEOGBAPHICAL PEIMEB. 



XXVIII. -MAP LESSON. 

Bound. Locate. 

New York. Long Island, Adirondack Mountains, Catskill 

Mountains, Hudson Kiver, Albany, New 
York City, Brooklyn, Buffalo. 

Cape May, Delaware Kiver, Trenton, New'- 
ark, Jersey City. 

Alleghany Mountains, Blue Ridge, Susque- 
hanna River, Ohio River, Harrisburg, 
Philadelphia, Pittsburg. 

Delaware Bay, Do'-ver, Wilmington. 

Chesapeake Bay, Po-to'-mac River, An-nap'-o- 
lis, Baltimore. 

Blue Ridge Mountains, James River, Rich/- 
mond. 

Alleghany Mountains, Wheel'-ing. - 

Washington. 



New Jersey. 
Penn-s yl- v a'-ni-a . 



Delaware. 
Ma'-ry-land. 



Vir-gin'-i-a. 

West Virginia. 
Dist. Co-lum'-bi-a. 



How would you go by water from Albany to Philadelphia? 
From Philadelphia to Baltimore ? From Baltimore to Washing- 
ton? From New York to Richmond? From Buffalo to New 
York? Write the names of all States, mountains, rivers, and cities 
learned in Lesson XXVIII. 



XXIX. -COTTON-GROWING STATES. 
(Part I., Pages 33-35.) 

In the journey down the Mississippi we saw cotton growing 
soon after passing the mouth of the Ohio. All the States 
lying farther south than this, whether in the Atlantic Plain or 
in the Central Plain, produce cotton, and most of them make 
it their principal crop : hence all of them together are often 
called the cotton States. Four border on the Atlantic, four 
on the Gulf, and two are inland. Those on the coast are 
commonly called the South Atlantic States and Gulf States. 



I MIDDLE 
ATLANTIC STATES 

® Capitals o.Cities; Towns 




83 



XongituS 



"West from 77 Greenwich 



226 



GEOGBAPHICAL PRIMER. 



There are ten cotton-growing States, — North Caro- 
lina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Missis- 
sippi, Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee, and Arkansas. 

The surface consists mostly of plains easy to cultivate 
and very productive. The Black Mountains in North 

Carolina are the 
loftiest part of 
the Appalachian 
system, being 
about a mile and 
a quarter high. 

The streams 
which flow from 
the mountains 
are navigable 
through the 
plains. The 
Mississippi and 
several of its 
tributaries cross 
the cotton States, connecting them with States farther 
inland. 

This is the warmest portion of the United States. 
The winter is mild everywhere, and the southernmost 
parts rarely have freezing weather. 

Exercise. — (Open books to map of South Atlantic and Gulf 
States.) Which cotton State is not shown on this map? Find 
it on the map of the United States. Which cotton States extend 
farthest south? Which lie farthest north? Find the States, 
mountains, and rivers named in this lesson. Why is this the 
warmest part of the United States ? Bound each State, and name 
its capital. The picture shows a small part of San Antonio, in 
Texas. It is one of the oldest towns in America. 




Square in San Antonio, Tex. 



BUSINESS AND CITIES. 



227 



XXX. -BUSINESS AND CITIES. 
(Part I., Pages 9, 10, 35, 36.) 

Ever since these States were settled, agriculture has been 
their main business, — until recently almost the only one. 
This is not strange, because the level surface and rich soil 
make cultivation easy and crops abundant ; and the market, 
too, is sure, for the climate favors the growth of things 
needed for use where they cannot be produced. But the 
cotton States have stores of coal and iron and abundant 
water-power, which are now used in manufacturing, espe- 
cially in Georgia. A few cities owe their growth to their 
manufactures, but most depend on the cotton trade for 
business. 

Agriculture is the main business of the cotton States. 
Besides the great cotton crop, rice grows on low lands 




Charleston, S.C.. Harbor. 



along the coast, and the warmest portions produce sugar 
and tropical fruits. 

Manufacturing- increases rapidly. Iron and cotton 
manufactures take the lead. 



228 GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



New Orleans is the only great city. It is the main 
centre of the Mississippi trade, and the largest cotton- 
market in the world. 

Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, Galveston, and Mem- 
phis are cotton-markets. Atlanta has extensive iron- 
works, and Augusta has cotton-mills. 

Exercise. — (Open books to map of South Atlantic and Gulf 
States.) In what part of our country can these States sell their 
cotton? Why is not cotton raised in New England? The coal 
and iron come mainly from the Blue Ridge. Which States would 
you suppose have the most water-power?- Why? Find the cotton- 
markets named in the lesson ; the manufacturing cities ; the largest 
city in each State. (Galveston is the largest in Texas.) What 
have you read about New Orleans? Find the capital of each 
State. The picture on p. 227 shows you a part of Charleston 
harbor, the best in the South Atlantic States. The cotton States 
have not very many good harbors for large vessels. 



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230 GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



XXXII. — REVIEW. 

XXIX. Name the cotton States. What is their general sur- 
face? What mountains in this region? Name the principal 
range; the highest part of the Appalachian system. How high 
are the Black Mountains? What great river crosses the cotton 
States? Describe the climate. 

XXX. What is the main occupation of these States ? The chief 
crop ? What else is raised ? What other business is now impor- 
tant ? What kinds of manufactures ? How many great cities in 
the cotton States ? How is New Orleans important ? What is the 
business of the other cities ? Name the cotton markets ; the manu- 
facturing cities. 

Write about the country in the southern parts of the Atlantic 
and Central Plains (pp. 9, 35, 36). Write the names of all States, 
rivers, mountains, and cities learned in Lesson XXXI. 



XXXIII. -CENTRAL STATES. 
(Part I., Pages 47-50.) 

The middle and northern portion of the Central Plain con- 
tains eleven States, which are together called the Central 
States, and two Territories. Two of the States lie in the 
higher prairies west of the Missouri : Dakota and Indian 
Territory border these. The Central States have access to 
the Gulf by the Mississippi and its tributaries ; and to the 
Atlantic by the Great Lakes, the Erie Canal, and thcr 
Hudson, or by the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence. 

The Central States are eleven, — Kentucky, Ohio, 
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, 
Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. 

The surface consists principally of very fertile plains, 



CENTRAL STATES. 



231 



partly rolling and partly flat 
most of the country --^ggg 
is prairie-land. 

The Mississippi =]|1I 
river, the Missouri, 
and the Ohio flow 
through the Cen- 
tral States. The 
Great Lakes bor- 
der these States, 
and Minnesota has 
many small lakes. 

At the extreme 
north the summer 
is rather short, but 
hot ; the winter 
long and very cold. 
At the south the 
summer is much 
longer, and the 
winter is mild. 



West of the Mississippi 




Chicago Stock-Yard. 



Exercise. — (Open books to map of Central States.) Which 
States are shown here ? Which great lakes ? AVhich great lake is 
wholly in the Central States ? In what State is most of Lake 
Michigan ? What other States border on it ? What States bor- 
der on Lake Superior ? Huron ? Erie ? Mississippi River ? , Ohio 
River ? What river do you see on the western boundary of Minne- 
sota? Where (map of North America) does this stream reach the 
sea ? A lake feeding the Minnesota almost touches one feeding the 
Red River ; where do its waters reach the sea ? Find Minnesota 
River ; Illinois ; Cumberland ; Des Moines. Bound each State, 
(map of the United States for Kansas and Nebraska). Bound 
Dakota; Indian Territory. Find their capitals. 



232 



GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



XXXIV. - BUSINESS AND CITIES. 
(Pakt I., Pages 22, 33, 48.) 

The Central States might be called the grain farm and 
pasture of the Union ; for grain-growing and stock-raising 
are as important here as cotton-planting farther south. The 
surface and soil are as good here as there ; but the crops are 
different on account of the climate. This region has in- 
creased very rapidly in population and wealth, and has large, 
rich cities, some of which are not yet fifty years old. West of 
the Mississippi there are not people enough to occupy all the 
fertile land ; but many thousands are going there every year. 




A Grain Elevator. 

Agriculture is the main business of the Central 



BE VIEW. 2& 



States. Wheat and corn are the great crops ; but to- 
bacco is important in Kentucky and Missouri. 

Great numbers of horses, cattle, sheep, and swine are 
also raised here. 

Manufacturing- is fast increasing. It consists mostly 
of flouring, curing and packing meat, and making tools 
and machinery for farming. 

Copper is mined on the southern shore of Lake Su- 
perior, and iron and lead in several places. 

The greatest cities are Chicago, St. Louis, and Cin- 
cinnati. Next come Cleveland, Louisville, Detroit, Mil- 
waukee," and Indianapolis. 

Exercise. — (Open books to map of Central States.) Find each 
of the cities named in the lesson. Which are on the Lakes ? On 
the Mississippi ? On the Ohio ? What do you know about Chi- 
cago? St. Louis? Cincinnati? What tobacco States (p. 222) 
have you learned of farther east ? Which (p. 209) grows farther 
north — wheat, or corn ? Where can this region find a market for 
its meat and breadstuff ? (p. 118.) Find the capital of each State ; 
the largest city in each. What do you know (p. 29) about Minne- 
apolis and St. Paul ? There are rapids at Louisville, but boats go 
up the Ohio all the way to Pittsburg : how do you suppose they 
get past the rapids ? (By a canal.) 



XXXV. —REVIEW. 

XXXIII. Name the Central States. What part of the Central 
Plain is mostly prairie-land? What great streams and lakes in 
this region ? Which great lake is wholly in the Central States ? 
Describe the climate. Which two Territories lie in the Central 
Plain ? What States do they border ? 

XXXIY. What is the great business of the Central States? 
The leading crops ? Which States produce tobacco ? What tobacco 
States have you learned of farther east? Which grows farther 



234 GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



north — wheat, or corn ? What manufacturing is done in the Cen- 
tral States? What mining? What great cities in the Central 
States ? What do you know about Chicago ? St. Louis ? Cincin- 
nati ? Which cities are next them in size ? Name the largest city 
in each State. 



XXXVI. -MAP LESSON. 

Bound. Locate. 

Kentucky. Cum'-ber-land River, Frank'-fort, Lou'-is-ville. 

Ohio. Ohio River, Co-lum'-bus, Cincinnati, Cleveland. 

Indiana. Wabash River, In-di-an-ap'-o-lis. 

Illinois. Illinois River, Springfield, Chicago. 

Michigan. Lake Michigan, Mackinaw Straits, Lansing, Detroit. 

Wisconsin. Wisconsin River, Mad'-i-son, Mil-wau'-kee. 

Minnesota. Itasca Lake, Mississippi River, St. Paul, Minneapolis. 

Iowa. Des Moines River (de moin'), Des Moines (city). 

Missouri. Mis-sou'-ri River, Jefferson City, St. Louis. 

Kansas. (Map of United States.) To-pe'-ka, Leav '-en-worth. 

Nebraska. (Map of United States.) Platte River, Lincoln, 
O-ma-ha'. 

Write the names of all the states, lakes, rivers, and cities learned 
in Lesson XXXVI. 



XXXVII. - THE WESTERN HIGHLANDS. 
(Part L, Pages 65-70.) 

In some respects, this is the most remarkable portion of 
the United States. The highest two mountain-systems are 
here ; the only great table-land is between them ; and the 
only part of the country which does not produce useful plants 
is on the table-land. Here, too, are smoking volcanoes, 
spouting geysers, and canons so narrow and deep that the 
streams at the bottom of them cannot be used either for 
driving mill-wheels, or carrying boats, or even for moistening 
the soil. 




Longitude 



Greenwich. 



236 



GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



The Western Highlands contain four States and seven 
Territories. They are, Colorado, Nevada, California, 
and Oregon; Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, 
Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. 

Much of the surface is mountainous, and the table- 
land barren. But there are good lands in the valleys 

among the mountains 
and near the Pacific. 

The highest land is 
Mount Whitney, near- 
ly three miles high. 

The largest lakes are 
salt, and some of the 
longest rivers flow 
through deep canons, 
and are useless. 

The climate is dry, 
except near the Pa- 

An Indian Camp-Fire. ciflC. The COaSt lailds 

are warmer than on the Atlantic coast. 




Exercise. — (Open books to map of Pacific States.) Find each 
State and Territory named in the map. Which are crossed by the 
Kocky Mountains ? Which are crossed by the Sierra Nevada and 
Cascade Mountains? Bound each State ; each Territory. (Map of 
the United States for the most easterly.) Find Missouri River; 
Yellowstone ; Colorado ; Columbia ; Great Salt Lake. 

Find Yellowstone Park. This region, about three-fourths as 
large as Connecticut, contains such wonderful canons and geysers, 
and waterfalls, and lake and mountain scenery, that the government 
has reserved it for a national park. The geysers are singular 
springs, that every little while throw up into the air columns of 
boiling-hot water. Write about the appearance of the table-land, 
and what grows upon it. 



BUSINESS AND CITIES. 



237 



XXXVIII. -BUSINESS AND CITIES. 
(Part L, Pages 70-74.) 

You remember that the largest part of this vast region is 
unfit for most kinds of business. There are woods and pas- 
ture-lands among and around the Rocky Mountains ; and fine 
forests grow at the west of the Sierra system. But the dry 
table-land is useless except where the surface can be irri- 
gated. This is done by leading water from some stream, 
through artificial channels, and distributing it over the ground 
where it is needed. Fine farming land has been made in 
this way, especially in Utah. 

The highland region contains few people except 
where gold and silver are found, and in the wide valleys 
of California and Oregon. There is gold in California, 
silver in Nevada, and 
both gold and silver 
in Colorado, and at 
different places in the 
Territories. 

California has vast 
cattle-ranches, wheat- 
farms, orchards, and 
vineyards. Oregon 
carries on wheat- 
farming, wool -grow- 
ing, lumbering, and 

Salmon-fishing. California Fruits. 

San Francisco, in California, is the only great city 
in all this region ; but there are several smaller ones 
which are growing rapidly. 




238 GEOGBAPHICAL PBIMEB. 



Denver, near rich silver and gold mines in Colorado, 
is the largest inland city. Salt Lake City is in the irri- 
gated lands of Utah; and Virginia City in the richest 
silver district of Nevada. 

Exercise. — (Open books to map of Pacific States.) Find San 
Francisco : what do you know about it ? Find the largest city in 
each State ; the capital of each State. Find Salt Lake City ; the 
capitals of the other Territories. Write about the .discovery of 
gold in California. 

XXXIX. -MAP LESSON. 

Bound. Locate. 

Oregon. Cascade Mountains, Columbia River, Salem, 

Portland. 
California. Sierra Nevada, Mount Whitney, Sac-ra-men'- 

to, San Francisco, Los An'-ge-les. 
Xe-va'-da (-vah f -). Colorado River, Carson City, Virginia City. 
Col-o-ra'-do {-rah'-). Rocky Mountains, Denveu, Leadville. 
U'-tah. Wah-satch' Mountains, Great Salt Lake, Salt 

Lake City. 
Washington. Cape Flattery, Cascade Mountains, O-lym'-pia. 



XL. — REVIEW. 



XXXVII. What States and Territories are in the western high- 
lands? What kind of surface has this region? What large barren 
district ? What is the highest land in the United States ? How 
high is Mount Whitney ? What is peculiar about the lakes and 
streams in this region ? Describe the climate. 

XXXVIII. What parts of this region have most people ? Where 
are gold and silver found? What pursuits are important in Cali- 
fornia ? In Oregon ? What cities in this region ? What can you 
say about San Francisco ? Denver ? Salt Lake City ? Virginia 
City? Name the capital and largest city of each State. 

XXXIX. Write the names of the States, Territories, moun- 
tains, rivers, and cities learned in Lesson XXXIX. 




PACIFIC STATES Vrlfc 

AND *"" 

TERRITORIES. 

® Capitals o Cities, Towns 



Longitude 



240 



GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



XLI.-COLD COUNTRIES OF NORTH AMERICA. 
(Part I., Pages 52-56 and .75-78.) 

We have learned that the part of North America north of 
our country, excepting the south- 
ern portions, is mostly a cold 
forest-land, with few inhabitants 
but Indians ; and that the Arctic 
shores are too cold for forests, 
and have no people but Esqui- 
maux. All this region, except 
Alaska, belongs to Great Britain. 
In the sea, north-east of the 
continent, are Greenland' and Ice- 
land, very cold islands. These 
belong to Denmark, and are 
called Danish America. Their 
people came originally from the 
cold countries of Europe. 

All of the continent of 
North America north of the 
United States, excepting 
Alaska, belongs to Great Britain, and is called British 
America. 

Only the southern part of British America is inhab- 
ited by civilized men. This is divided into several prov- 
inces, which together form the Dominion of Canada. 
The island of Newfoundland is a separate province. 

The chief ruler of the Dominion is a governor-gen- 
eral appointed by the government of Great Britain. 
Montreal is the only great city of the Dominion ; but 




A Fur-Trader. 



THE WARM, SOUTHERN COUNTRIES. 241 



Quebec, farther down the river, is older. The capital 
is Ottawa. There are several other fine cities. 

Exercise. — (Open books to map of North America.) Find 
Greenland; Iceland; Alaska. To what countries do they belong? 
Find British America. Find three great rivers in British America ; 
three large lakes. You remember Red River on the western boun- 
dary of Minnesota : into which of these lakes does it flow ? Find 
Montreal ; Quebec. Write what you know (pp. 53, 54) about them. 



XLII.-THE WARM, SOUTHERN COUNTRIES. 
(Part I., Pages 82-88.) 

We know that the countries of North America at the south 
of us are as much warmer than ours, as those north of us 
are colder. We remember the hot coast lands, with their 
abundance of interesting and valuable plants ; and the grad- 
ual change as the laud rises, until in the high, cool interior, 
the fields and forests look almost like our own. We have 
read, too, of terrific volcanoes in these countries, and of 
earthquakes that shake down people's houses ; and have 
found that, after all, a country of continual summer may not 
be the pleasantest place in the world to live in. 

South of the United States, are the hot countries of 
Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. 

Mexico is a republic, made up of many small States, 
united under one government. Mexico City, its capital, 
is on a high table-land in the interior. 

Central America consists of small separate republics 
of not much importance. 

The West Indies include four large islands, and a 
great number of very small ones. Cuba and Hayti are 
much the largest. Cuba, which belongs to Spain, is the 



242 



GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



greatest sugar district in the world, 
tal and largest city. 



Havana is its capi- 



Exercise. — (Open books to map of North America.) Find 
Mexico ; Central America ; Cuba ; Hayti. What line passes just 
north of Cuba ? In what zone are these hot countries? In what zone 
is the northern part of Mexico ? Do you suppose this part to be 
cooler, or warmer, than the southern? Why? What small islands 
of the West Indies lie north of the tropic ? The little one farthest 
east was the first land found by Columbus. Its name is San 
Salvador. 



XLIII.-MAP LESSON. 



Bound. 

North America. 
British America. 
United States. 
Mexico. 
Central America. 

A-LAS'-KA. 

New-found-land. 
Cuba. 
Hay'-ti. 
(ha'-) 



Locate. 

Greenland. 
Iceland. 

Ja-mai'-ca {-ma'-). 
Hudson Bay. 
Gulf of Mexico. 
Gulf of St. Lawrence. 
Gulf of California. 
Car-ib-be'-an Sea. 
Pan-a-ma' Isthmus. 
(-mah') 



Montreal. 
Ot'-ta-wa. 
Washington. 
Chicago. 
Philadelphia. 
New York. 
San Francisco. 
Mexico (city). 
Ha-va'-na. 
(-vaii'-) 



XLIV. - REVIEW. 

XLI. What is Danish America? To what country does the 
northern part of North America belong ? What part of British 
America is peopled by civilized men ? How is it divided ? What 
island forms a separate province ? How is the Dominion governed ? 
What is the capital? Name the other chief cities. 

XLII. What countries lie south of the United States ? What is 
Mexico ? •What and where is its capital ? Of what does Central 
America consist? What do the West Indies include? Name the 
largest two islands. What is interesting about Cuba? What is 
its chief city? 




NORTH 
AMERICA 

® Capitals i o Cities, Towns 



SOUTH AMERICA. 

XL V. -COUNTRIES OF THE PLAINS. 
(Part I., Pages 90-96, 102-107.) 

South America is a remarkable continent. It has the high- 
est mountains on the globe excepting the Himalaya, the most 
extensive forests in the world, and vast treeless plains that 
at one season are covered with the richest vegetation, and at 
another are parched by the sun and swept by flames until they 
seem like a desert. It lies mainly in the Torrid Zone ; yet 
even here the valleys between the Andes have the temperature 
of spring, and the tops bear snow throughout the year. All 
the South- American countries are republics excepting Brazil, 
which is ruled by an emperor. Guiana is a small mountain- 
land belonging to countries in Europe. 

The hard names in this lesson are pronounced thus : — 

Brah-zeel^Ven-ez-weeMah, Pah-rah-gwa', U-roo-gwa', Ar r -j en-tine, 
Ri'-o Ja-nee'-ro, Bo'-nus A'-riz, Ghe-ah'-nah. 

The plains of South America contain five countries, 
— Brazil, Venezuela, Paraguay, Uruguay, and the Ar- 
gentine Republic. 

Brazil includes the larger part of the selvas, and has 
valuable diamond and gold districts. There are few 
people except in the coast regions. 

Agriculture is the chief pursuit, and coffee the prin- 

244 



COUNTBIES OF THE PLAINS. 



245 



cipal crop. Rio Janeiro, the capital, is the greatest 
coffee-market in the world. Bahia is also a large city. 

Venezuela, the Argentine Republic, Paraguay, and 
Uruguay contain the vast llanos, pampas, and other tree- 
less plains. 

Cattle-raising is the main business, with agriculture 
in some of the best 
districts. 

Buenos Ayres, 
and Montevideo, on 
.the La Plata, are 
the only large cities 
in these four coun- 
tries. They are fa- 
mous markets for 
hides, horns, and 
tallow. 

Exercise. — (Open 
books to map of South 
America.) Find Guia- 
na. What is it? Bound 
each of the countries of 
the plains. Find their 
capitals. Which of 
these countries is the 
largest ? Which are 
in the Torrid Zone? 
In what zone are the 
others? Which part 
of these temperate countries is warmest ? Why ? On the Amazon 
where do you see the sun at noon ? In our country, where ? In 
Uruguay, where? Why? (One must always look toward the 
Torrid Zone to see the sun at noon.) What (p. 95) are the selvas? 
What (p. 102) are the llanos? What (p. 105) are the pampas? 




A Brazilian Plantation. 



246 



GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



XL VI. - COUNTRIES OF THE ANDES. 
(Part I., Pages 97-101.) 

You remember that the Andes extend along the whole 
western coast of South America, shutting off from the Pacific 
all the rich plains. You know that the larger part is a great 
double range, with a long, high, wide valley between the tops. 
The mountains are highest, and the tops of the two ridges 
widest apart, in the middle portion, where the inner valley 
contains a large lake. Here, in the eastern ridge, is the 
highest land in America, nearly five miles high. The hard 
names of this lesson are pronounced on p. 248. 




A Bridge in the Andes. 

The countries of the Andes are Columbia, Ecuador, 
Peru, Bolivia, and Chili. All but Chili extend across 



BEVIEIV. 247 



the mountains into the selvas. All are torrid except 
Chili, which has a climate similar to our own. 

These countries all have rich deposits of gold, silver, 
and copper; but Chili is the only one which attends 
much to mining. 

In the four torrid countries most of the people live 
in the valleys among the Andes, which have a better 
climate than the lowlands. 

Santiago, the capital of Chili, and Lima, the capital 
of Peru, are the largest cities on the west side of the 
Andes. 

Exercise. — (Open books to map of South America.) Name 
the countries of the Andes ; their capitals. Do these cities seem 
to be among the mountains, or in the lowlands ? Why do people 
prefer to live in the highlands ? Where do you see lakes in the 
wide valley ? The highest mountains, called Nevado de Sorato, lie 
south-east of that largest lake ; what capital is on the east side of 
them? 



XL VII.- REVIEW. 



XLV. Name the countries of the plains. What is the chief 
pursuit in Brazil ? The principal crop? What minerals has Bra- 
zil? What part is most peopled? What great cities has Brazil ? 
W T hat do you know about Rio Janeiro ? What is the chief busi- 
ness of the other countries of the plains ? What is the largest city 
of these four countries ? 

XL VI. What countries are crossed by the Andes? Which 
one is on the west side ? What is the climate of these countries ? 
What valuable minerals have they? In which one is most attention 
given to mining ? What is the best part of the torrid countries to 
live in? Why? What are the greatest two cities on the Pacific 
side of the mountains ? Where and how high is the highest land 
in America? 



248 GEOGBAPHICAL PBIMER. 



XLVIIL-MAP LESSON. 

Bound. Locate. 

Vest-ez-tje'-la. Cape Horn. Mon-te-vid'-eo. 

Bra-zii/. Ter'-ra del Fu-e'-go. Buenos Ayres. 

Pa-ra-gtjay'. Andes Mountains. San-ti-a'-go {-ah'-). 

U-ru-gcay'. Am'-a-zon River. Li'-ma. 

Ar'-gen-ti^e Rep. Pa-ra-na' River {-nah'). Su'-cre {era). 

Chi'-li {che'-le). La Pla'-ta River. Qui'-to (ke f -). 

Bo-eiv'-ia. Orinoco River. Bo-go-ta' {tah'). 

Pe-ru'. Ca-ra'-cas {-rah'-). Yal-pa-rai'-so {-ri'-). 

Ec'-ua-dor {wa). Rio Janeiro. Ba-hi'-a (-e'-). 

Co-lom'-bia. A-sun'-cion. Pa-ra' {-rah'). 



XLIX.- WESTERN HEMISPHERE (Examination). 

What two continents in the Western Hemisphere? How are 
they connected ? In what zone is most of North America ? Most 
of South America ? What part of North America is in the Torrid 
Zone ? What part of South America is in the Temperate Zone ? 
Name the countries of North America ; of South America. What 
parts of each continent belong to European governments ? Which 
is the most important country of North America ? Of South Amer- 
ica ? What is the government of the United States ? Of Brazil ? 
Of all the other independent countries of the New World ? 

Of what does the United States consist ? Name the States ; the 
Territories ; the capital. In what part of the United States are 
manufacturing and commerce most important ? In what parts is 
agriculture the great business? What is the chief crop of the 
South Atlantic and Gulf States ? Of the Central ? Where are coal 
and iron mined? Gold and silver? Copper? Name the great 
cities of the United States, — naming, in New England, one; in 
the Middle Atlantic States, four; in the cotton States, one; in the 
Central States, three ; on the Pacific coast, one. 

Name the largest city in the Dominion ; in Mexico ; in the West 
Indies. Name the largest cities of South America, — on the east- 
ern coast, four ; on the western, two. In what country is each? 



EUROPE. 



L. — THE CONTINENT. 

Europe lies east of the Atlantic, opposite the northern 
half of North America. It extends only about as far south as 
Cape Hatteras. One would suppose that the climate would 
be like that of the regions opposite on the American coast ; 
but a large part is really very much warmer. Europe is the 
smallest of the continents, except Australia ; and has a coast 
more broken than any of the others. The whole south- 
western part is like a great peninsula, lying between the 
Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic. The countries of Eu- 
rope are all monarchies except France and Switzerland. 

Eastern Europe is a great low plain, with mountains 
only on its borders. The longest river is the Volga. 

Western Europe consists mostly of mountain-lands 
and valleys, with small plains and table-lands. 

The Alps are the highest mountains. The loftiest 
peak. Mount Blanc, is nearly three miles high. 

The Danube, the Rhine, and the Rhone are the prin- 
cipal rivers of Western Europe. 

The climate, in all the coast countries, is much 
warmer than in coast regions opposite in America. 
Eastern Europe is cooler than Western Europe. 

Exercise. — (Open hooks to map of Europe, p. 267.) Name the 
oceans which border upon Europe ; the seas and bays along the 
coast ; a cluster of islands off the west coast ; four islands in the 
Mediterranean. Find the mountains and rivers named in the lesson. 
Xame the countries bordering upon the Mediterranean ; upon the 
250 



THE BBITISH ISLES. 



251 



Atlantic ; the great country of Eastern Europe ; the small countries 
which touch the Black Sea; a little country between Italy and the 
German Empire. What (p. 210) is a republic? What (p. 214) 
is a monarchy ? What is the only monarchy (p. 244) you found 
in America ? 



LI. -THE BRITISH ISLES. 
(Pabt I., Pages 113-121.) 

The British Isles together form the "United Kingdom of 
Great Britain and Ireland." The government has great 
possessions in America, Australia, Asia, and other parts of 
the world ; and all these together form the British Empire. 
The British possessions are so scattered on all parts' of the 
globe that people often say, 
" The sun never sets on the 
British flag," by which they 
mean, that there is never a time 
when it is not day in some coun- 
try belonging to Great Britain. 

Great Britain is but little 
larger than the State of Min- 
nesota, yet it contains more 
than half as many people as 
the United States. England 
is the richest and most popu- 
lous part. 

Manufacturing and com- 
merce are the chief occupa- 
tions, but great care is given 
to farming. The leading 
manufactures are cotton, woollen, and linen goods, and 
iron and steel wares of every sort. 




A Scotch Highlander. 



252 GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



England has more great cities than any other country 
of its size. 

London is the capital of the British Empire, and is 
the largest city on the globe. It contains nearly four 
millions of people. 

Liverpool is the great seaport of northern England. 

Manchester is the leading city of the world in cotton 
manufactures, and Birmingham in iron-works. 

Leeds is celebrated for its manufactures of wool. 

Glasgow, in Scotland, is famous for the iron steam- 
ships built there ; and Edinburgh for its University. 

Dublin is the most important city in Ireland. 

Exercise. — (Open books to map of British Isles.) Name the 
waters which separate Great Britain from the Continent; Ireland 
from Great Britain. Name the different parts of Great Britain. 
Which includes the largest part of the island? Which has most 
of the great cities? Find all the cities named in the lesson. Read 
what is said in Part I. (pp. 116, 117) about London ; about Man- 
chester and Liverpool (p. 118) ; about Edinburgh (p. 120). 

There are other large cities in England, about which you will like 
to learn at another time ; and there are smaller ones which are 
very interesting. Find Cambridge ; Oxford : at these two places 
are the old and celebrated English universities, of which we often 
hear. There is also a famous university in Ireland, at Dublin. 



LII.-MAP LESSON. 

Bound. Locate. 

England. Strait of Dover, Land's End, Wales, Thames (temz) 

River, London, Liverpool, Manchester, Bir'-ming- 

ham, Leeds, Cambridge, Ox'-ford. 

Scotland. Heb'-ri-des Islands, Glas'-gow, EdMn-burgh (bur-ru.) 

Ireland. Cape Clear, St. George's Channel, Dublin, Bel-fast', 

Cork. 



BRITISH 
ISLES 




from Greenwich 



254 



GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



LIII.— FRANCE, BELGIUM, AND HOLLAND. 
(Paet L, Pages 122-133.) 

These are among the most famous countries of Europe, on 
account of the great number of people they contain, their 
careful farming, and the immense variety of rich and costly 
things they manufacture. Belgium contains more persons to 
each square mile of territory than any other country in the 
world. France is the only great republic in Europe. 

France, Belgium, and Holland lie on the coast of 

Europe, opposite England. 

The chief pursuits of the 
people are agriculture, man- 
ufacturing, and commerce. 

Among their manufac- 
tures, are velvets, silks, rib- 
bons, laces, gloves, jewelry, 
elegant cloths, carpets, fur- 
niture, and parlor - orna- 
ments. 

Paris is the capital of 
France, and is the largest 
city on the Continent of 
Europe. 

Marseille is the principal 
seaport, and Lyon is cele- 
brated for its silk manu- 

A Shepherd of the Landes. factUreS. 

Brussels, the capital of Belgium, is famous for its 
laces and carpets. 




THE NORTH COUNTRIES. 255 



Amsterdam, in Holland, has a very extensive com- 
merce. 

Exercise. — (Open books to map of Europe, p. 267.) Find the 
countries named. Bound each. Find Paris. What have you 
read (p. 126) about it? Turn to the map of Central Europe. 
Find Mount Blanc ; Lyon ; Marseille. What have you read 
(pp. 128, 129) about these cities ? Find Brussels ; Amsterdam. 
Many of the merchant-ships that come to Amsterdam are laden 
with spices, coffee, medicines, choice woods, and other things from 
far-off lands in the Indies, belonging to Holland. 

WTiich of these three countries is a republic? In the south- 
western part of France is a plain called the Landes, where the 
people are shepherds. They walk on stilts, and have raised seats 
so as to be able to overlook their flocks. The picture on the oppo- 
site page shows you one of the shepherds, resting on the high seat, 
and knitting. 

LIV.-THE NORTH COUNTRIES. 
(Part L, Pages 133, 134.) 

In the old times these north countries were famous for the 
courage and daring of the people, and their skill as sailors. 
The leaders were often called sea-kings. They used to set 
out with their followers, and make voyages along the coast ; 
and when they found an inviting region they would attack 
and often conquer it. Thus they gained possession of parts 
of England and France, and other territories much richer 
than their own. Some of these rovers discovered Iceland 
and Greenland, which still belong to Denmark ; and it is 
said they even sailed as far as the New England coast, long 
before the time of Columbus. 

Denmark, Sweden, and Norway lie on the coast 
farther north than Holland. All taken together are 
often called the Scandinavian countries. 

Norway and most of Sweden are high, mountainous 



256 



GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



lands, famous for their forests of tall pines and firs, and 
their iron and copper ores. 

Denmark is a low country. The islands are the best 
part of it. 

In Norway and Sweden many people are employed in 
the fisheries, the forests, and the mines; but in Den- 
mark the principal occupation is farming. 

The only large cities of the Scandinavian countries 
are their capitals. 

Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, is the largest 
and most celebrated of all the Scandinavian cities. 

Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, is a beautiful city, 

situated on a cluster of islands. 

Exercise. (Open 
books to map of 
Central Europe.) 
Find Denmark. 
Where are the isl- 
ands ? Find the 
capital : how is it 
situated ? Turn to 
the map of Europe. 
Find Sweden and 
Norway. Find the 
capital of Sweden. 
These two coun- 
tries have the same 
king, but each has 
its own capital. 
Find the capital of 
Norway. What 
parallel near these 
two cities ? Find 
where this parallel 
in Stockholm. crosses North Amer- 

ica. What sort of country is that part of North America ? 




REVIEW. — THE SUNNY LANDS. 257 



LV.- REVIEW. 

L. Where is Europe? How far south does it extend? What 
is remarkable about its size? Its coast? Describe Eastern 
Europe; Western Europe. What are the highest mountains in 
Europe? Wriat, and how high, is the loftiest peak? Name the 
chief rivers of Western Europe. Describe the climate of Europe. 

LI. Where are the British Isles ? Name the two great islands. 
What kingdom do they form? What is the British Empire ? How 
large is Great Britain ? How populous ? W'hat part of the island 
is most important ? What are the leading kinds of business ? The 
principal manufactures ? Name the great cities. Which are in 
England ? Which in Scotland ? What important city in Ireland ? 

LIII. Where are France, Belgium, and Holland ? What are the 
chief pursuits of the people ? Name some of the important manu- 
factures. Name the largest cities of France ; an important city in 
Belgium ; in Holland. What do you know about each of these 
cities ? What distant possessions has Holland ? What is the gov- 
ernment of France? 

LIY. "What and where are the Scandinavian countries? Describe 
Norway and Sweden ; Denmark. What important pursuits in these 
countries? What are the largest Scandinavian cities? What im- 
portant city in Norway ? Write what you know about the country 
in France. 



LVL-THE SUNNY LANDS. 
(Pakt L, Pages 135-145, 155-157.) 

Three large peninsulas of Europe border upon the Mediter- 
ranean, and are famous for their fine climate, and their clear, 
sunny skies. Though no farther south than the middle of 
the United States, their climate and many important pro- 
ductions are more like those of Florida and Texas than 
Virginia and Kentucky. The eastern and middle peninsulas 
contained the first civilized nations in Europe, — the Grecians 



258 



GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



and Romans ; and many things still remain there which show 
the wealth and grandeur of those ancient states. 

The peninsulas of Southern Europe contain Spain 
and Portugal, Italy, Greece, and European Turkey. 

The surface in many parts is mountainous ; but these 
countries have some of the most fertile valleys and 
small plains in Europe. 





A Spanish Peasant. 



A Greek. 



The climate is delightful, with long summers, and 
short, mild winters. 

Agriculture is the main business. Fruits, wine, and 
olive-oil are the most abundant productions. 

Italy and Spain contain a number of great cities. 
The largest are Naples, Rome, and Milan, in Italy, and 
Madrid, the capital of Spain. Rome, the most famous 
city of ancient times, is the capital of Italy. 



SWITZERLAND AND GERMANY. 



259 



Constantinople is the capital and largest city of 
Turke}^ ; Lisbon, of Portugal ; and Athens, of Greece. 
Venice is an old city, built on a cluster of islands. 

Exercise. — (Open books to the 
map of Europe. ) Bound the countries 
named. What parallel crosses these 
countries ? Find what States of our 
country are crossed by this parallel. 
The peninsulas of Southern Europe 
all have high mountains along the 
northern border, shutting off the cold 
north winds: besides, they are near 
the hot countries of Africa, with 
nothing to interrupt the warm south 
winds. That is one reason Avhy they 
are so much warmer than the middle 
of our country. Find the cities 
named. (Milan is on the map of 
Central Europe.) In what country 
is each ? Read what is said in Part 
I. about Madrid (p. 138), Homo 
(142), Venice (143), Naples (144), 
Constantinople and Athens (157). 




An Italian Peasant Girl, Spinning. 



LVIL - SWITZERLAND AND GERMANY. 
(Part L, Pages 145-153.) 

The great kingdom of Prussia, the smaller kingdoms of 
Saxony, Bavaria, and Wurtemburg, and a number of other 
little states in the middle part of Europe, are all peopled by 
Germans. In 1871 these states united, forming the Empire 
of Germany, and made King William of Prussia their em- 
peror. Germany is celebrated for its schools and its learned 
men, and for the treasures of painting and sculpture, and 
other interesting things, collected in the cities. 



260 



GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



Switzerland is a small republic, situated among the 
highest mountain-lands of Europe. Geneva is its most 
important city. Berne is its capital. 

The kingdom of Prussia and a number of smaller 
states, together form the Empire of Germany. 




The Fair at Leipzig. 

The surface of Southern Germany is mountainous, 
but the northern part is a plain. The Rhine, which 
flows through the highlands, is the most famous river. 

The climate is cooler than on the coast farther west. 

Farming, wool-growing, and manufacturing are the 
leading occupations of the Germans. 

The largest cities are Berlin, Hamburg, and Breslau. 
Munich, Dresden, and Leipzig are also noted. 

Berlin, the capital of Prussia, is also the capital of 
the empire. 



THE AUSTRIAN EMPIBE. 



261 



Exercise. — (Open books to map of Central Europe.) Find 
Switzerland : what famous mountain just outside of it ? Find 
Geneva: what have you read (p. 149) about it? Find Berne: 
what is it? Bound the German Empire. Find Berlin; Munich: 
what have you read (pp. 152, 153) about each ? 

Find Hamburg : this is the city from which most of the German 
emigrants sail for America. Find Breslau : this is the greatest 
wool-market in Europe. Find Dresden and Leipzig. Dresden is 
celebrated for its picture-galleries, and Leipzig for its great yearly 
fairs. 



LVIII.-THE AUSTRIAN EMPIRE. 
(Part I., Pages 154, 155.) 

The leading state of this great empire is Austria, situated 
in the western highlands south of the 
Danube. Its people and their near 
neighbors are Germans. The other 
peoples of the empire speak differ- 
ent languages, and are very unlike 
the Austrians. The kingdom of 
Hungary, in the middle part, is the 
largest division of the empire. The 
real name of the government is the 
Austro- Hungarian Monarchy. 

The Austrian Empire lies in 
Central Europe, south-east of the 
German Empire. It consists of 
Austria, Hungary, and a number 
of provinces, united under an 

Austrian emperor. A Hungarian Gentleman. 

The surface of Hungary is composed largely of plains. 




262 GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



The other parts of the empire are generally hilly or 
mountainous. The Danube is the greatest river. 

The climate is warmer than that of Germany. 

The chief pursuit is agriculture, but manufacturing 
and mining are also important. Grain, flax, and wine 
are produced in the rich plains. 

The greatest cities are Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. 
Vienna is the capital of the empire. 

Exercise. — (Open books to map of Europe.) Bound the Aus- 
trian Empire ; find its capital. What have you read (p. 154) about 
Vienna? Turn to the map of Central Europe, and find another 
capital in this empire : this is the capital of Hungary. The Danube 
flows through it : and, only a few years ago, the parts on the oppo- 
site sides of the river were separate cities, named Pesth_and Buda; 
but now they are united into one, and its name is Budapest. 

Find Prague : in what province is it ? Bohemia was once a king- 
dom, and Prague was its capital. Find a city directly east of Prague. 
There are famous salt-mines near Cracow. In the mountains be- 
tween Cracow and Vienna, are the most productive gold and silver 
mines in Europe. What parts of Italy and France are shown in 
this map? Where will you find the rest? (On map of Europe.) 



LIX.-MAP LESSON. 

Bound. Iiocate. 

German Empire. Rhine River, Ber'-lin, Bres'-Iau, Hamburg, 

Dres'-den, Leip'-zig, Munich. 
Austrian Empire. Alps Mountains, Danube River, Vienna, Bu ; - 

da-pest 7 , Prague. 
Switzerland. Alps Mountains, Geneva, Berne. 

Holland. Rhine River, The Hague (liag), Amsterdam. 

Belgium. Brussels. 

Denmark. Co-pen-ha'-gen. 

Italy. Alps Mts., Po River, Mil'an, Venice. 

France. Mount Blanc, Rhone River, Lyon. 



CENTRAL 
EUROPE 




® Capitals o 
* o HI 



<h£lf of. 
The Lick 



Longitude 



East 10 from 



264 



GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



LX. — RUSSIA AND ROUMANIA. 
(Pabt I., Pages 158, 159.) 

Russia and the little kingdom of Roumania lie in the great 
plain of Eastern Europe. We have already noticed the 
frozen lands on the Arctic shores, the vast country south 
of them, and the smaller forests among cultivated lands that 
fill the middle portion of Russia. In the south, west of the 




A Friendly Chat. 

river Don, are rich prairies, almost like those of the Missis- 
sippi. Towards the Caspian, the land is poor, and the best 
parts are only pasture-grounds. In some respects they are 
much like the pampas of South America. The Cossacks, 
who live here, raise herds of horses and cattle, and are about 
as daring riders as the Gauchos. 



REVIEW. 265 



Russia fills nearly all the great plain of Eastern 
Europe. The northern part is very cold, and is mostly 
a forest region. 

The settled portions of Russia are principally in the 
middle and south-western parts, where the climate is 
moderate, and there are rich farming lands. 

The great business of the people is farming and 
stock-raising. Fine crops of wheat and flax, and large 
herds of horses and cattle, are raised. 

The largest cities are St. Petersburg and Moscow. 
St. Petersburg is the capital. 

Roumania is a small kingdom in the plains at the 
mouth of the Danube. It contains rich wheat lands, 
and is a farming country. Bukharest is its capital. 

Exercise. — (Open books to the map of Europe.) Bound Rus- 
sia. Find St. Petersburg: what have you read (p. 159) about it? 
Find Moscow : this was the capital before St. Petersburg was built. 
The Russians are a sociable people, fond of meeting and chatting 
together. The picture shows a little group who seem to be having 
a fine time. One of them, you see, is a wandering musician, with 
his instrument on his shoulders, and staff in his hand. I wonder 
what sort of music he can make. 

Find Roumania. What countries are its neighbors V To what 
country (p. 155) did Roumania and the little States south of the 
Danube once belong ? 



LXL— REVIEW. 



LVI. What countries of Europe are in the southern peninsulas? 
Describe their surface ; their climate ; the chief occupations and 
productions. Name the largest cities of the southern countries. 
Name the capital of each of these countries. 

LVII. What and where is Switzerland? Its most important 
city? What do you know about Geneva? What is the capital of 



266 GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



Switzerland? What forms the Empire of Germany? Describe the 
surface. Name the chief river. Describe the climate. What is 
the chief pursuit of the people ? Name the three principal cities. 
What three others are interesting ? What makes them so ? What 
is the capital of the German Empire ? 

LVIII. Where is the Austrian Empire ? Of what does it consist? 
What is the surface? The climate? The chief pursuit of the 
people ? Name some of the chief crops ; the largest three cities. 
What is the capital of the empire? What is the new name of the 
government ? 

LX. What countries lie in the plains of Eastern Europe? 
Where is> Russia ? What are the most settled portions ? Why are 
these better to live in than the northern? What is the chief pur- 
suit ? What do the farms produce ? Name the two chief cities. 
Tell something about each. What and where is Roumania? 



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AFRICA. 



LXIII. -NORTHERN AFRICA. 
(Part I., Pages 160-164.) 

Africa is the largest continent, except Asia ; but it con- 
tains neither great arms of the sea nor peninsulas, and has 
no vast systems of high mountains. In the northern part, is 
the greatest rainless region on the globe ; but in the middle 
portion, are fresh- water lakes and rivers which are among the 
largest in the world. 




A Camel and his Driver. 

Northern Africa includes the Sahara, northern Egypt, 
and the Barbary States. The native inhabitants are of 
the white race. 

The Sahara is a rainless region, but contains many 
fertile oases. Fezzan is a group of the largest ones. 

268 



MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN AFRICA. 



269 



The 



Egypt is the most important country in Africa. 
Nile Valley has always been 
famous for its abundant grain- 
crops. Cairo is the capital. 

The Barbary States are the 
fertile countries north of the 
Sahara. Algeria belongs to 
France. 

Exercise. — (Open books to map 
of Africa.) Find the Atlas Moun- 
tains ; the Isthmus of Suez. A 
ship-canal crosses this isthmus : what 
waters does it connect? Find the 
Barbary States; Egypt; their capi- 
tals. Algeria used to belong to Tur- 
key, and the governor was called the 
" Dey of Algiers." What (p. 160) are 

the Oases ? Find Fezzan. The Dey of Algiers, and Attendants. 




LXIV.- MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN AFRICA. 
(Part L, Pages 165, 166.) 

In Middle Africa, are wonderful forests, vast treeless 
plains, and immense marshes, with many of the largest ani- 
mals in the world. Many of the trees and smaller plants yield 
food for the savage tribes ; and a great number furnish gums, 
oils, and other valuable articles. The plumes of the ostrich 
and the ivory tusks of the elephant are also of great value. 

Middle Africa is the land of the negroes, and most 
of the tribes are savages. There are a very few white 
men, at trading-posts or mission-stations. 

Southern Africa contains many British and Dutch 
colonists. 



270 



GEOGRAPHICAL PBIMER. 



Cape Colony is the most important British possession 
in Africa. It has fertile lands on the coast, fine pas- 
ture-grounds farther inland, and rich diamond-fields 
near the northern border. Cape Town is the capital. 




Mode of Travelling in Central Africa. 

Exercise. — (Open books to map of Africa.) Find Cape Col- 
ony ; Cape Town ; four large rivers in Africa ; two large lakes. 



LXV.-MAP LESSON. 



Bound. 




Locate. 




Egypt.. 


Cape Good Hope. 


Gulf of Guinea. 


Congo River. 


Algeria. 


Isthmus of Suez. 


Atlas Mountains. 


Cairo. 


Marocco. 


Madagascar. 


Yictoria Lake. 


Algiers. 


Tripoli. 


Mediterranean Sea 


Nile River. 


Cape Town. 


Cape Colony. 


Red Sea. 


Niger River. 


Fez. 



ASIA. 



LXVL- NORTHERN AND WESTERN ASIA. 
(Part I., Pages 167-1 TO, and 179.) 

The Russians, who possess the whole of Eastern Europe, 
rule over all of Northern Asia. The northernmost portion 

is called Siberia, and the south- 
western, Russian Turkestan. 
These possessions and Russia 
itself together form the Rus- 
sian Empire. 

South-east of the Aral Sea 
are three small independent 
countries. Their people are 
mostly wandering herdsmen, 
but there are cultivated lands 
and cities in the best parts. 

Northern Asia forms part 
of the Russian Empire, but 
does not contain a large 
population. Siberia is very 
cold, except in the southern 
part. Russian Turkestan has 
hot summers, but very cold 

winters ; and a large part is quite dry. 

There are rich lands in the eastern part of Russian 

Turkestan, and also in the southern part of Siberia. 

272 




At Home in Turkestan. 



THE INDIES. 273 



Turkey, Persia, and Arabia contain vast dry regions, 
with only wandering herdsmen for inhabitants ; but they 
have, also, some of the most fertile lands in Asia. 

All of these three countries produce fruits, drugs, 
and perfumeries ; and Arabia yields coffee and spices. 

Turkey is part of the Turkish Empire, with its capi- 
tal at Constantinople, in Europe. 

Persia is a kingdom, and Teheran is its capital. 

Exercise. — (Open books to the map of Asia.) Find Siberia. 
Find Russian Turkestan ; a body of water within it. Find three 
countries south-east of the Aral. Find Persia ; Turkey ; Arabia. 
What interesting places in Turkey (pp. 167, 168) did you read 
about? Find Ispahan ; what have you read (p. 170) about it? 



LXVIL-THE INDIES. 

(Part I., Pages 171, 172.) 

We have already seen what a wonderful region this part 
of Asia is. Long ago, when the sea-going peoples of Europe 
were each trying to gain as much as possible of the wealth 
of the Indies, they began to establish trading-stations on the 
coasts of the peninsulas and the islands. Little by little, and 
in various ways, they have increased their territories, until 
now the larger part of the Indies belongs to them. But most 
of the eastern peninsula is still ruled by native peoples. 

The Indies include two great peninsulas and a large 
group of islands at the south-east of Asia. 

The climate is hot, with abundance of rain. 

Rare woods, spices, ivory, and precious stones are 
part of the natural wealth. The cultivated productions 
are coffee, sugar, indigo, rice, cotton, and opium. 



274 GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



Great Britain controls the whole of the western pen- 
insula, Ceylon, and the west shore of the eastern penin- 
sula. Calcutta is the capital of British India. 

France has a small territory in the eastern peninsula, 
south of Anam. 

Spain possesses the Philippine Islands. 

Holland controls the other islands, large and small, 
excepting parts of Borneo and New Guinea. 




A Hindoo Jeweller. 

Exercise. — (Open books to the map of Asia.) Find India. 
What great river has it? What have you read (p. 172) about the 
plains of the Ganges ? Find a city at the mouth of the Ganges. 
What do you know about it? Find Anam. The French territory 
is named Cochin China: have you ever heard this name? Find the 
islands which belong to Spain. Name four other large islands. 
What line crosses two of them ? Which islands are wholly south 
of the Equator ? 

The native islanders are of the brown race. The native people 
on the plains of the Ganges are called Hindoos. You know what 
skilful workmen they are. In the picture you see a Hindoo jewel- 
ler at his work, with his little box of tools and materials beside 
him. Would you think he could do fine work? 



THE EMPIRES OF CHINA AND JAPAN. 275 



LXVIII.-THE EMPIRES OP CHINA AND JAPAN. 
(Pakt I., Pages 173-178.) 

The Chinese Empire is not nearly so large as the Russian 
Empire, but it contains about three times as many people. 
The rich plains along the rivers in China are the most popu- 
lous part. If China could be laid down on North America, it 
would stretch from Cape Hatteras to Kansas, and from Lake 
Ontario to the island of Hayti. 

The Japanese Empire consists 
of a cluster of islands, somewhat 
larger than the British Isles. 
They lie opposite our country, 
extending as far north and south 
as the whole length of California 
and Oregon. The people of 
both empires belong to the yel- 
low race. 

The Chinese Empire occu- 
pies the larger part of Middle 
and Eastern Asia. The capital 
is Peking, in China. 

The climate of China is like 
that of the eastern half of the a Chinese schoolmaster. 

United States. 

The most famous productions are tea, silks, porce- 
lain, and curious carvings in ivory and wood. 

The Japanese Empire consists wholly of islands. 
Tokio is its capital. 

The climate is like that of our Atlantic States. The 
productions are much like those of China. 




276 



GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



The Chinese and Japanese are more advanced in 
civilization than any other nations of their race. 




A Japanese Restaurant. 

Exercise. — (Open books to the map of Asia.) Find China; 
the Himalaya Mountains ; Thibet ; Mongolia. What have yon read 
(pp. 176-178) about each ? Find Peking: Canton. What have you 
read (p. 175) about these cities ? Find the Japanese Islands ; the 
name of the largest ; an important city in Nippon. 



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AUSTRALIA. 



LXX.- AUSTRALIA AND THE PACIFIC. 

(Part L, Pages 180-183.) 

We have noticed in the Pacific Ocean great numbers of 
small islands. Some are only groups of volcanoes with a 




Australian Scenes. 



strip of coast land around them. These are volcanic islands. 
The Sandwich Islands, about midway between Mexico and 

278 



REVIEW. 279 



China, are the most famous of this class. Other islands are 
low and flat ; some being only rings of land, like Whitsunday. 
These are coral islands ; that is, the soil is formed, and the 
plants are growing, on the top of a bank of coral. 

Australia, the smallest of the continents, belongs to 
Great Britain. The south-eastern part is best known, 
and contains most of the white inhabitants. 

Low mountains, rich in gold, border the coast; and 
rivers flow from them westward through fertile plains. 

Gold-mining is the chief occupation of the people, 
but wool-growing and cattle-raising are important. 

The white inhabitants are mostly from Great Britain. 
As yet they are fewer in number than the population 
of New York State. The natives are black. 

Exercise. — (Open books to the map of Eastern Hemisphere.) 
Find Australia : on which side of the Equator is it ? What are 
some of the strange things (p. 181) one may see in Australia ? 



LXXL- REVIEW. 

LXIII. What countries are in Northern Africa ? Of what race 
are the native rjeople ? What is the Sahara ? Egypt ? Name the 
Barbary States. Which belongs to France ? 

LXIV. Who are the people of Middle Africa? What useful 
things come from Middle Africa? Wliat white colonists are in 
South Africa ? What does Cape Colony contain that is valuable ? 

LXVI, To what country does Northern Asia belong ? What 
three important countries in Western Asia ? What sort of coun- 
tries are they? What do they produce? Of what empire is 
Turkey a part ? What is its capital ? What is Persia ? 

LXVII. What do the Indies include? What is the climate? 
What are the productions ? What part of the Indies belongs to 
Great Britain ? To France ? To Spam ? To Holland ? 



280 GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



LXVIII. Where is the Chinese Empire ? What is the capital ? 
What is the climate of China ? What are the leading productions ? 
"What forms the Empire of Japan ? What is its capital ? Of what 
race are the Chinese and Japanese ? 

LXX. To whom does Australia belong? What part is best 
known ? Describe that part. What are the pursuits of the white 
inhabitants? Where did they come from? How great is the 
number of them ? Of what color are the natives ? 



LXXIL- EASTERN HEMISPHERE (Examination). 

What kingdom do the British Isles form ? Of what does the 
British Empire consist ? What European countries border on the 
Atlantic ? What is the government of France ? What small repub- 
lic in Central Europe ? What European countries border on the 
Mediterranean? W T hat two empires in Central Europe? Wbat 
great country in Eastern Europe ? Where is the rest of the Rus- 
sian Empire? 

What high mountains in Europe ? Name the highest peak in 
Europe. Name four important rivers in Europe. In what country 
is London? Paris? Berlin? Vienna? Constantinople? Naples? 
Liverpool ? Glasgow ? Manchester ? Edinburgh ? Lyon ? Madrid ? 
Lisbon? Marseille? Dublin? Munich? Rome? Athens? St. 
Petersburg? Moscow? Milan? Bukharest? 

What three important countries in Western Asia? What great 
empire in Middle and Eastern Asia? Where is the Japanese 
Empire ? What important articles come from China and Japan ? 
Of what do the Indies consist? What four European countries 
control the Indies ? What valuable things come from the Indies ? 
In what country is Peking ? Tokio ? Canton ? Calcutta ? 

"What countries are in Northern Africa? Where » Cairo ? Al- 
giers ? What race occupies Middle Africa ? What valuable things 
come from Middle Africa? What is the principal country in South 
Africa? What precious things come from there?! What impor- 
tant town in South Africa? To what country does Australia 
belong? Wh at does it produce? 



TABLES. 



Population of the Principal Cities in the World, 



UNITED STATES. 
NEW ENGLAND. 

Boston, Mass 362,532 

Providence, R.I 104,850 

New Haven, Conn 62.882 

Lowell, Mass 59,485 

Worcester, Mass 58,295 

Cambridge, Mass 52,740 

Fall River, Mass 49,006 

Hartford, Conn 42,553 

Lawrence, Mass 39,178 

Lynn, Mass 38,284 

Portland, Me 33,810 

Springfield, Mass 33,340 

Manchester, N.H 32,630 

Rutland, Vt 12,149 

MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES. 

New York, N.Y 1,206,590 

Philadelphia, Penn 846,934 

Brooklyn, N.Y 566,689 

Baltimore, Md 332,190 

Pittsburg, Penn 156,381 

Buffalo, N.Y 155,137 

Washington, D.C 147,307 

Newark, N.J 136,400 

Jersey City, N.J 120,728 

Albany, N.Y 90 903 

Rochester, N.Y 89,363 

Alleghany City, Penn. . . 78,681 

Richmond, Va 63,803 

Troy, N.Y 56,747 

Syracuse, N.Y 51,791 

Paterson, N.J 50,887 

Wilmington, Del 42,499 

Wheeling, W. Va 31,216 

SOUTH ATLANTIC STATES. 

Charleston, S.C 50,000 

Atlanta, G-a 37,398 

Savannah, Ga 30,681 

Augusta, Ga 23,023 

Wilmington, N.C 17,361 

Jacksonville, Fla 14,500 

GULF STATES. 

New Orleans, La 216,140 

Mobile, Ala 31,205 

Galveston, Tex 22,253 

San Antonio, Tex 20,561 

Vicksburg, Miss 11,814 

CENTRAL STATES. 

Chicago, III 503,304 

St. Louis, Mo 350,522 

Cincinnati, 255,700 

Cleveland, 160,142 

Louisville, Ky 123,615 

Detroit, Mich 116,346 

Milwaukee, Wis 115,578 

Indianapolis, In/> 75,074 

Kansas City, Mo 55,813 

Columbus, 51,665 

Toledo, O 50,143 

Minneapolis, Minn 46,8S7 



Nashville, Tenn 43,461 

St. Paul, Minn 41,498 

Denver, Col 35,630 

Omaha, Neb 30,518 

Des Moines, Ia 22,408 

Leavenworth, Kan 16,550 

Little Rock, Ark 13,185 

PACIFIC STATES. 

San Francisco, Cal 233,956 

Oakland, Cal 34,566 

Portland, Or 17,587 

Virginia City, Nev 13,705 

Salt Lake, Utah 20,768 

DOMINION OF CANADA. 

Montreal 117,780 

Quebec 59,700 

Toronto 46,100 

Halifax 29,580 

Ottawa 21,540 

MEXICO, CENTRAL AMER- 
ICA, AND WEST INDIES. 

Mexico City, Mex 230,000 



La Puebla, Mex. 
Guadalahara, Mex. . 
New Guatemala, C.A. 
Havana, W. Ind. . . 
Matanzas, W. Ind. . . 



75,500 
70,000 
40,000 
230,000 
36,000 



SOUTH AMERICA. 

Rio Janeiro, Brazil .... 228,700 

Bahia, Brazil 128,900 

Pernambuco, Brazil .... 116,700 

Para, Brazil ...... 35,000 

Buenos Ayres (Arg. Rep.) . 177,800 

Montevideo, Ur 104,300 

Asuncion, Par 48,000 

Caracas, Ven 48,900 

Santiago, Chili 129,800 

Valparaiso, Chili 97,700 

La Paz, Bol 76,400 

Lima, Peru 100,000 

Quito, Ec. 70,000 

Bogota, Col 45,000 

EUROPE. 

London, Eng 3,533,500 

Liverpool, Eng 527,100 

Birmingham, Eng 377,400 

Manchester, Eng 359,200 

Leeds. Eng 298,200 

Sheffield, Eng 282,000 

Bristol, Eng 202,900 

Glasgow, Scot 555,900 

Edinburgh, Scot 215,100 

Dublin, Ir 314,700 

Belfast, Ir. . 174,400 

Pakts, France 1,998,800 

Lyon, France 322,600 

Marseille, France .... 234,700 

Bordeaux, France 212,100 

Brussels, Belg 161,800 

281 



282 



GEOGRAPHICAL PRIMER. 



Antwerp, Belg 150,700 

Amsterdam, Hol 296,200 

Rotterdam, Hoe 136,200 

Copenhagen, Den 181,300 

Stockholm, Swed 157,200 

Christiania, Nor 77,000 

Berlin, Prus 966,900 

Breslau, Prus 239,000 

Dresden, Sax 197,300 

Leipzig, Sax 127,400 

Hamburg (Free) 264,700 

Munich, Bav 198,800 

Vienna, Aust 660,700 

Budapest (Buda-Pesth) Hun. . 254,500 

Prague, Boh 166,500 

BUKHAREST, IiOU 221,800 

Geneva, Switz 67,400 

Madrid, Sp 367,300 

Barcelona, Sp . 216,000 

Lisbon, Port 224,100 

Naples, It 415,500 

Rome, It 219,600 

Milan, It 199,000 

Venice, It 128,900 

Athens, Greece . 74,000 

Constantinople, Tur. . . . 600,000 

Adrianople, Tur 100,000 

St. Petersburg, Rus. . . . 668,000 

Moscow, Rus 602,000 

Warsaw, Rus 320,100 

Odessa, Rus 184,800 



ASIA. 

Damascus, Tur 150,000 

Smyrna, Tur 150,000 

Tabriz, Per 120,000 

Teheran, Per 100,000 

Mecca, Ar 50,000 

Candahar, Afgh 80,000 

Calcutta, Br. Ind 704,700 

Bombay, Br. Ind 644,400 

Madras, Br. Ind 397,600 

Bangkok, Siam 500,000 

Peking, China 1,648,800 

Canton, China 1,236,000 

Su-chau, China 1,000,000 

Chang-chau, China . . . 1,000,000 

Tokio, Japan 789,000 

Manila, Phil. Ids 160,000 

AFRICA. 

Cairo, Egypt 349,900 

Alexandria, Egypt .... 212,000 

Fez, Morocco 150,000 

Tunis, Tunis 125,000 

Algiers, Algeria 52,000 

Cape Town, Cape Col. . . . 33,200 

AUSTRALIA. 

Melbourne 212,200 

Sydney 134,800 



Lengths of the Principal Eivers of the World. 



NEW WORLD. 

Mississippi (Lower, with Mo.) 

Amazon, S.A 

La Plata (and Parana) S.A. . 

Mackenzie, N.A 

St. Lawrence, N.A 

Saskatchewan, N.A 

Yukon, N.A 

Orinoco, S.A 

San Francisco, S.A 

Rio Grande del Norte, N.A. 

Columbia 

Colorado 

Alabama 

Susquehanna 

Connecticut 

Hudson 



4,200 

3,750 

2,300 

2,300 

2,000 

1,900 

1,600 

1,550 

1,550 

1,500 

1,020 

1,000 

650 

400 

350 

330 



OLD WORLD. 

Nile, Af 4,000 

Yenisei, Asia 3,400 

Yang-tse-kiang, Asia .... 3,320 

Obi, Asia 3,000 

Niger, Af 3,000 

Lena, Asia 2,700 

Amoor, Asia 2,650 

Brahmapootra, Asia .... 2,300 

Volga, Europe 2,000 

Indus, Asia 1,850 

Danube, Europe 1,800 

Euphrates, Asia 1,750 

Ganges, Asia 1,600 

Zambesi, Af 1,600 

Murray, Aust 1,500 

Rhine 880 



Height of the Highest Mountains in the "World. 

OLD WORLD. 

Mount Everest(Himalaya) , 29,000 ft. 

HlNDOOKOOSH (Afghn.) . 20,000 '• 

Elburz (Caucasus) .... 18,572 " 

Ararat (Armenia) .... 16,960 •' 

Mount Blanc (Alps) . . . 15.7S0 " 

Monte Rosa (Alps) . . . 15,223 " 

Pic Anethoux (Pyr.) . . 11,168 " 

Kilimanjaro (Africa) . . 20,065 " 

Kosciusko (Aust.) .... 7,176 " 



Nevado de Sorata (Bol.) 


. 25,000 ft 


Aconcagua (Chili) . . 


. 24,422 " 


Chimborazo (Ecuador) 


. 21,414 " 


POPOCATAPETL (MEX.) . 


. 17,784 «< 


Orizaba (Mex.) . . . 


. 17,897 " 


Mount Whitney (Cal.) 


. 15,000 " 


Uncompaghre (Col.) . 


. 14,587 " 


Gray's Peak (Col.) 


. 14,295 " 


St. Elias (Alaska) . . 


. 14,970 " 



